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Sources of Finance, R&D Investment and Productivity: Correlation or Causality?

Author

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  • Lööf, Hans

    (Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, CESIS)

  • Heshmati, Almas

    (Techno-Economics Policy Program, College of Engineering)

Abstract

In general there is agreement about the positive impacts of R&D on performance of firms measured as productivity, profitability and growth. However, the opposite relationship is less obvious and very little attention has been paid on examining the feedback from performance on investment. This study is an attempt to contribute to the empirical analysis of the causal relationship between investment and performance. We examine the interaction between a number of financial indicators represented by investments in R&D and tangible capital and a number of performance variables including sales, value added, profit, cash flow, capital structure and employment on R&D and physical capital investments. Empirical results are based on a large panel data set of Swedish manufacturing firms over the period 1992-2000. The results show evidence of weak feedback effects from performance on investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Lööf, Hans & Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "Sources of Finance, R&D Investment and Productivity: Correlation or Causality?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 11, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Baumol, William J & Wolff, Edward N, 1983. " Feedback from Productivity Growth to R & D," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 85(2), pages 147-157.
    2. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    3. Kenneth Arrow, 1962. "Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention," NBER Chapters, in: The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity: Economic and Social Factors, pages 609-626, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Granger, C W J, 1969. "Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-Spectral Methods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(3), pages 424-438, July.
    5. Ward Brown, 1997. "R&D Intensity and Finance: Are Innovative Firms Financially Constrained?," FMG Discussion Papers dp271, Financial Markets Group.
    6. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "A Reprise of Size and R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 925-951, July.
    7. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
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    Cited by:

    1. Giuliana Battisti & Amid-George Mourani & Paul Stoneman, 2010. "Causality and a firm-level innovation scoreboard," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 7-26.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D Investsments; Productivity; Financial constraints; Panel Data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L19 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Other
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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