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R&D and productivity: the unfinished business

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  • Zvi Griliches

Abstract

Recent work on the relationship of productivity growth to expenditures on R&D is discussed with special reference to "unfinished business": unsolved conceptual and econometric problems. The standard "R&D as a capital" model raises a number of difficult conceptual issues, especially the meaning and measurement of the depreciation of "knowledge" and of the associated economic rents created by it. In addition, empirical implementations of this model have to struggle with the possibility of simultaneity and reverse causality and the implication of imperfect markets for knowledge-based products. An empirical example of some of these issues is presented using data from a panel of U.S. R&D -performing firms, showing both the difficulties alluded to above and evidence for the continued importance of the R&D process for the growth of productivity.

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  • Zvi Griliches, 1998. "R&D and productivity: the unfinished business," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 25(2 Year 19), pages 145-160, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:udc:esteco:v:25:y:1998:i:2:p:145-160
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    1. Paul Schreyer & María Belén Zinni, 2021. "Productivity Measurement, R&D Assets, and Mark‐Ups in OECD Countries," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(4), pages 787-809, December.
    2. José García-Quevedo & Gabriele Pellegrino & Marco Vivarelli, 2011. "The determinants of YIc's R&D activity," Working Papers XREAP2011-20, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Dec 2011.
    3. Crowley, Frank & Jordan, Declan, 2018. "The trade-off between absorptive capacity and appropriability of the returns to innovation effort," SRERC Working Paper Series SRERCWP2018-2, University College Cork (UCC), Spatial and Regional Economic Research Centre (SRERC).
    4. Khajehpour, Hossein & Miremadi, Iman & Saboohi, Yadollah & Tsatsaronis, George, 2020. "A novel approach for analyzing the effectiveness of the R&D capital for resource conservation: Comparative study on Germany and UK electricity sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    5. Ana Lara GÓMEZ, 2015. "Technological Spillovers of Research Infrastructures," Departmental Working Papers 2015-18, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    6. Nestor Gandelman & Osiris J. Parcero & Flavia Roldán, 2021. "Opportunities to upgrade the scientific disciplines space," Documentos de Investigación 126, Universidad ORT Uruguay. Facultad de Administración y Ciencias Sociales.
    7. César Rodríguez-Gutiérrez & Juan Francisco Canal-Domínguez, 2020. "Knowledge capital and productivity in Spanish industry," Revista de Economía Laboral - Spanish Journal of Labour Economics, Asociación Española de Economía Laboral - AEET, vol. 17, pages 46-64.
    8. García-Quevedo, José & Pellegrino, Gabriele & Vivarelli, Marco, 2011. "R&D Drivers in Young Innovative Companies," IZA Discussion Papers 6136, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Kremp Elizabeth & Stöß Elmar, 2001. "Estimating the Borrowing Behavior of French and German Firms. An Econometric Analysis / Verschuldungsverhalten französischer und deutscher Unternehmen. Eine ökonometrische Analyse," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 221(5-6), pages 620-647, October.
    10. Zhong, Genyuan & Zhang, Weihang, 2018. "Product and process innovation with knowledge accumulation in monopoly: A dynamic analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 175-178.
    11. Acconcia Antonio & Beraldo Sergio & Capuano Carlo & Stimolo Marco, 2023. "Public Subsidies and Cooperation in Research and Development. Evidence from the LAB," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 23(3), pages 727-760, July.
    12. Jürgen Antony & Torben Klarl, 2020. "Knowledge Transfer, Transitional Dynamics and Optimal Research & Development Policy in a Dynamic Monopoly Setting," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 57(3), pages 579-606, November.
    13. José García-Quevedo & Gabriele Pellegrino & Marco Vivarelli, 2011. "The determinants of YIc's R&D activity," Working Papers XREAP2011-20, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Dec 2011.
    14. Choi, Hyundo & Anadón, Laura Díaz, 2014. "The role of the complementary sector and its relationship with network formation and government policies in emerging sectors: The case of solar photovoltaics between 2001 and 2009," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 80-94.
    15. de Rassenfosse, Gaétan & Jaffe, Adam B., 2018. "Econometric evidence on the depreciation of innovations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 625-642.
    16. Arkhipova, Marina & Aleksandrova, Elena, 2014. "Study of the relationship between innovation and export activity of Russian firms," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 36(4), pages 88-101.
    17. Robert Wieser, 2001. "R&D and Productivity: Evidence for European and U.S. Firms in the 1990s," WIFO Working Papers 159, WIFO.

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