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Growth is Getting Harder to Find, Not Ideas

Author

Listed:
  • Fort, Teresa
  • Goldschlag, Nathan
  • Liang, Jack
  • Schott, Peter
  • Zolas, Nikolas

Abstract

Relatively flat US productivity growth versus rising R&D expenditures is often interpreted as evidence that ideas are getting harder to find. We build a new 45-year panel tracking the universe of US firms' patenting to investigate the micro underpinnings of this conclusion, separately examining the relationships between research inputs and ideas (patents) versus ideas and growth. We find that average patents per R&D input are increasing, the elasticity of patents to R\&D inputs is flat or rising, and there is not systematic evidence of a secular decline in patenting after controlling for research inputs. We then document a positive, significant, and fairly steady relationship between firms' patent and labor productivity growth rates. Average firm growth after controlling for patent growth, however, declines. Together, these results suggest that firms' innovative efforts play a key role in sustaining growth that has not diminished over the last four decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Fort, Teresa & Goldschlag, Nathan & Liang, Jack & Schott, Peter & Zolas, Nikolas, 2026. "Growth is Getting Harder to Find, Not Ideas," CEPR Discussion Papers 21555, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21555
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    Cited by:

    1. Carvalho, V. M. & Freund, L. B., 2026. "Firms as Foragers," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2659, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    2. Massari, Filippo & Peretto, Pietro F., 2026. "Super-robust endogenous growth: Theory and empirical insights," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    3. Joonkyu Choi & Serguey Braguinsky & Yuheng Ding & Karam Jo & Seula Kim, 2023. "Mega Firms and New Technological Trajectories in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 31460, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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