The complementarity effect of research and development on firm productivity

Returns to investment in research and development (R&D) are a subject of considerable interest in the literature on economics of innovation. However, a drawback of this literature is that R&D is mostly treated as a homogeneous activity. This article analyses the differentiated effect of rese...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inApplied economics letters Vol. 20; no. 15; pp. 1426 - 1430
Main Authors Barge-Gil, Andrés, López, Alberto
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.10.2013
Subjects
complementarity
development
productivity
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Summary:Returns to investment in research and development (R&D) are a subject of considerable interest in the literature on economics of innovation. However, a drawback of this literature is that R&D is mostly treated as a homogeneous activity. This article analyses the differentiated effect of research and development on productivity and tests the existence of complementarity between these activities. We find evidence supporting the existence of a direct effect of both innovation activities. Most interestingly, our results suggest that there is complementarity between research and development in determining productivity.
ISSN:1350-4851
1466-4291
DOI:10.1080/13504851.2013.815307