Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries
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- 1 November 2004
- journal article
- Published by MIT Press in The Review of Economics and Statistics
- Vol. 86 (4) , 883-895
- https://doi.org/10.1162/0034653043125194
Abstract
Many writers have claimed that research and development (R&D) has two faces. In addition to the conventional role of stimulating innovation, R&D enhances technology transfer (absorptive capacity). We explore this idea empirically using a panel of industries across twelve OECD countries. We find R&D to be statistically and economically important in both technological catch-up and innovation. Human capital also plays an major role in productivity growth, but we only find a small effect of trade. In failing to take account of R&D-based absorptive capacity, existing U.S.-based studies may underestimate the return to R&D. © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Keywords
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