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Private Investment in R&D to Signal Ability to Perform Government Contracts

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  • Frank R. Lichtenberg

Abstract

Official government statistics on the "mission-distribution" of U.S. R&D investment are based on the assumption that only the government sponsors military R&D. In this paper we advance and test the alternative hypothesis, that a significant share of privately-financed industrial R&D is military in orientation. We argue that in addition to (prior to) contracting with firms to perform military R&D, the government deliberately encourages firms to sponsor defense research at their own expense, to enable the government to identify the firms most capable of performing certain government contracts, particularly those for major weapons systems. To test the hypothesis of, and estimate the quantity of, private investment in 'signaling' R&D, we estimate variants of a model of company R&D expenditure on longitudinal, firm-level data, including detailed data on federal contracts. Our estimates imply that about 30 percent of U.S. private industrial R&D expenditure in 1984 was procurement- (largely defense-) related, and that almost half of the increase in private R&D between 1979 and 1984 was stimulated by the increase in Federal demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank R. Lichtenberg, 1986. "Private Investment in R&D to Signal Ability to Perform Government Contracts," NBER Working Papers 1974, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1974
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    1. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
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    3. Jacques Mairesse & Alan K. Siu, 1984. "An Extended Accelerator Model of R&D and Physical Investment," NBER Chapters, in: R&D, Patents, and Productivity, pages 271-298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Kihlstrom, Richard E & Riordan, Michael H, 1984. "Advertising as a Signal," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 92(3), pages 427-450, June.
    5. Kamien,Morton I. & Schwartz,Nancy L., 1982. "Market Structure and Innovation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521293853, December.
    6. Reppy, Judith, 1977. "Defense department payments for `company-financed' R&D," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 396-410, October.
    7. Zvi Griliches, 1984. "Data Problems in Econometrics," NBER Technical Working Papers 0039, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. William P. Rogerson, 1988. "Profit Regulation of Defense Contractors and Prizes for Innovation : Theory and Evidence," Discussion Papers 759, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
    2. Ashish Arora & Sharon Belenzon & Lia Sheer, 2017. "Back to Basics: Why do Firms Invest in Research?," NBER Working Papers 23187, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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