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Schumpeterian Business Cycles with Pro-Cyclical R&D

Author

Listed:
  • Patrick Francois

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Huw Lloyd-Ellis

    (Queen's University)

Abstract

Recent empirical work finds that R&D expenditures are quite procyclical, even for firms that are not credit-constrained during downturns. This has been taken as strong evidence against Schumpeterian-style theories of business cycles that emphasize the idea that downturns in production may be good times to allocate labor towards innovative activities. Here we argue that the procyclicality of R&D investment is, in fact, quite consistent with at least one of these theories. In our analysis, we emphasize three key features of R&D investment relative to other types of innovative activity: (1) it uses implemented knowledge intensively, (2) it is a long-term investment with uncertain applications and (3) it suffers from diminishing returns over time. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Francois & Huw Lloyd-Ellis, 2009. "Schumpeterian Business Cycles with Pro-Cyclical R&D," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(4), pages 567-591, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:07-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2009.02.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Philippe Aghion & George-Marios Angeletos & Abhijit Banerjee & Kalina Manova, 2005. "Volatility and Growth: Credit Constraints and Productivity-Enhancing Investment," NBER Working Papers 11349, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Aghion, Philippe & Banerjee, Abhijit, 2005. "Volatility and Growth," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199248612.
    3. Taiji Harashima, 2005. "The Pro-cyclical R&D Puzzle: Technology Shocks and Pro-cyclical R&D Expenditure," Macroeconomics 0507012, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 12 Jul 2005.
    4. Ríos-Rull, José-Víctor & Santaeulàlia-Llopis, Raül, 2010. "Redistributive shocks and productivity shocks," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(8), pages 931-948, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Iammarino, Simona & Sodano, Tiziana & Vittorino, Giovanni, 2020. "Firms' perceptions of barriers to innovation and resilience: the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia during the crisis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103281, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Kunihiko Konishi, 2015. "Growth Cycles in a Two-country Model of Innovation," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 15-07, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    3. Gordon M. Phillips & Alexei Zhdanov, 2013. "R&D and the Incentives from Merger and Acquisition Activity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 34-78.
    4. Elena Sochirca & Óscar Afonso & Pedro Mazeda Gil, 2011. "Directed technological change with costly investment and complementarities, and the skill premium," FEP Working Papers 401, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    5. Christian Rammer, 2011. "Auswirkungen der Wirtschaftskrise auf die Innovationstätigkeit der Unternehmen in Deutschland," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 80(3), pages 13-34.
    6. Herzer, Dierk, 2020. "How does mortality affect innovative activity in the long run?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Francois, Patrick & Lloyd-Ellis, Huw, 2006. "Growth, Cycles and Welfare: A Schumpeterian Perspective," Queen's Economics Department Working Papers 273566, Queen's University - Department of Economics.
    8. Hans van Ophem & Noud van Giersbergen & Kees Jan van Garderen & Maurice Bun, 2019. "The cyclicality of R&D investment revisited," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(2), pages 315-324, March.
    9. Furceri Davide & Jalles João Tovar, 2019. "Fiscal counter-cyclicality and productive investment: evidence from advanced economies," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, January.
    10. Dongya Koh & Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis, 2017. "Countercyclical Elasticity of Substitution," Working Papers 946, Barcelona School of Economics.
    11. Miroslav Gabrovski, 2020. "Simultaneous Innovation and the Cyclicality of R&D," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 36, pages 122-133, April.
    12. Iammarino, Simona & Gagliardi, Luisa, 2017. "Innovation in risky markets: multinational and domestic firms in the UK regions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101250, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Muriel Dal-Pont Legrand & Harald Hagemann, 2015. "Can Recessions be 'Productive'? Schumpeter and the Moderns," GREDEG Working Papers 2015-23, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    14. Pellens, Maikel & Peters, Bettina & Hud, Martin & Rammer, Christian & Licht, Georg, 2018. "Public investment in R&D in reaction to economic crises: A longitudinal study for OECD countries," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-005, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    15. Zhu Weimin & Muhammad Zubair Chishti & Abdul Rehman & Manzoor Ahmad, 2022. "A pathway toward future sustainability: Assessing the influence of innovation shocks on CO2 emissions in developing economies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 4786-4809, April.
    16. Shinagawa, Shunsuke, 2013. "Endogenous fluctuations with procyclical R&D," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 274-280.
    17. Yuichi Furukawa, 2015. "Leapfrogging cycles in international competition," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 59(2), pages 401-433, June.
    18. Hud, Martin & Rammer, Christian, 2014. "FuE- und Innovationsausgaben während der Krise: Strategien zur Sicherung des Innovationserfolgs," ZEW Dokumentationen 14-03, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. Beate Schirwitz, 2013. "Business Fluctuations, Job Flows and Trade Unions - Dynamics in the Economy," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 47, July.
    20. Mand, Matthias, 2019. "On the cyclicality of R&D activities," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 38-58.
    21. Tom Holden, 2012. "Medium-frequency cycles and the remarkable near trend-stationarity of output," School of Economics Discussion Papers 1412, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    22. Galo Nuño, 2011. "Optimal research and development and the cost of business cycles," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 257-283, September.
    23. Min Ouyang, 2010. "Cyclical Persistence and the Cyclicality of R&D," Working Papers 101104, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2011.
    24. Kadri M�nnasoo & Jaanika Merikull, 2011. "How do demand fluctations and credit constraints affect R&D? Evidence from Central, Southern and Eastern Europe," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2011-09, Bank of Estonia, revised 19 Jul 2011.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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