IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/nzmedo/2006_002.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Determinants of National R&D and Patenting: Application to a Small, Distant Country

Author

Listed:
  • Crawford, Ron

    (Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand)

  • Fabling, Richard

    (Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand)

  • Grimes , Arthur

    (Motu Economic & Public Policy Research and University of Waikato)

  • Bonner, Nick

    (Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand)

Abstract

We analyse the determinants of national R&D expenditure and patenting activity. In contrast to most related studies, we account for factors that impact on small, distant countries. These factors include country size, firm size, distance from major economic centres, and industrial structure. We apply the results to New Zealand, which has a low rate of privately funded R&D. We find that R&D expenditure and patenting activity are negatively affected by having a preponderance of small firms, having a heavy reliance on agriculture and also by distance of a country from major world centres. Population size is found to have no impact on either R&D or patenting. Greater R&D increases patenting, with an elasticity that indicates moderately increasing returns to scale in the relationship between R&D inputs and patent outcomes. Better intellectual property protection within a country also increases patenting activity. Once we control for these factors, New Zealand is not an outlier with respect to its R&D expenditures; it is a positive outlier with regard to patenting.

Suggested Citation

  • Crawford, Ron & Fabling, Richard & Grimes , Arthur & Bonner, Nick, 2004. "Determinants of National R&D and Patenting: Application to a Small, Distant Country," Occasional Papers 06/2, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
  • Handle: RePEc:ris:nzmedo:2006_002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.med.govt.nz/about-us/publications/publications-by-topic/occasional-papers/2006/06-02-pdf/view
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2000. "Market Value and Patent Citations: A First Look," NBER Working Papers 7741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Hall, Bronwyn H., 1992. "Investment and Research and Development at the Firm Level: Does the Source of Financing Matter?," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt5j59j6x3, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    3. Cohen, Wesley M & Levin, Richard C & Mowery, David C, 1987. "Firm Size and R&D Intensity: A Re-examination," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 543-565, June.
    4. David, Paul A. & Hall, Bronwyn H. & Toole, Andrew A., 2000. "Is public R&D a complement or substitute for private R&D? A review of the econometric evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 497-529, April.
    5. William F. Maloney & Daniel Lederman, 2004. "R&D and Development," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 216, Econometric Society.
    6. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & John Van Reenen, 2004. "Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 883-895, November.
    7. Bronwyn Hall, 2004. "The financing of research and development," Chapters, in: Anthony Bartzokas & Sunil Mani (ed.), Financial Systems, Corporate Investment in Innovation, and Venture Capital, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Andrea Bassanini & Ekkehard Ernst, 2002. "Labour market regulation, industrial relations and technological regimes: a tale of comparative advantage," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(3), pages 391-426, June.
    9. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-746, August.
    10. Giuseppe Nicoletti & Andrea Bassanini & Ekkehard Ernst & Sébastien Jean & Paulo Santiago & Paul Swaim, 2001. "Product and Labour Markets Interactions in OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 312, OECD Publishing.
    11. Andrea Bassanini & Stefano Scarpetta & Philip Hemmings, 2001. "Economic Growth: The Role of Policies and Institutions: Panel Data. Evidence from OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 283, OECD Publishing.
    12. Elhanan Helpman, 1997. "R&D and Productivity: The International Connection," NBER Working Papers 6101, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Andrea Bassanini & Stefano Scarpetta, 2002. "Growth, Technological Change, and ICT Diffusion: Recent Evidence from OECD Countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(3), pages 324-344.
    14. Adams, James D & Chiang, Eric P & Starkey, Katara, 2001. "Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 26(1-2), pages 73-86, January.
    15. Charles I. Jones & John C. Williams, 1998. "Measuring the Social Return to R&D," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1119-1135.
    16. Zoltan J. Acs & David B. Audretsch & Maryann P. Feldman, 2008. "R&D Spillovers and Recipient Firm Size," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 8, pages 88-94, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Sunil Kanwar & Robert Evenson, 2003. "Does intellectual property protection spur technological change?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 55(2), pages 235-264, April.
    18. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1995. "International R&D spillovers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 859-887, May.
    19. Himmelberg, Charles P & Petersen, Bruce C, 1994. "R&D and Internal Finance: A Panel Study of Small Firms in High-Tech Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 38-51, February.
    20. Duncan Mills & Jason Timmins, 2004. "Firm Dynamics in New Zealand: A Comparative Analysis with OECD Countries," Treasury Working Paper Series 04/11, New Zealand Treasury.
    21. Goolsbee, Austan, 1998. "Does Government R&D Policy Mainly Benefit Scientists and Engineers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 298-302, May.
    22. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    23. Philippe Aghion & Christopher Harris & Peter Howitt & John Vickers, 2001. "Competition, Imitation and Growth with Step-by-Step Innovation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(3), pages 467-492.
    24. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    25. Varsakelis, Nikos C., 2001. "The impact of patent protection, economy openness and national culture on R&D investment: a cross-country empirical investigation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1059-1068, August.
    26. Alberto Alesina, 2002. "The Size of Countries: Does it Matter?," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1975, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    27. Bronwyn H. Hall, 1992. "Investment and Research and Development at the Firm Level: Does the Source of Financing Matter?," NBER Working Papers 4096, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Jaffe, Adam B, 1989. "Real Effects of Academic Research," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(5), pages 957-970, December.
    29. Audretsch, David B. & Feldman, Maryann P., 2004. "Knowledge spillovers and the geography of innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 61, pages 2713-2739, Elsevier.
    30. Stephen Bond & Dietmar Harhoff & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Investment, R&D and Financial Constraints in Britain and Germany," NBER Chapters, in: Contributions in Memory of Zvi Griliches, pages 433-460, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Zoltan J. Acs & David B. Audretsch & Maryann P. Feldman, 2008. "Real Effects of Academic Research: Comment," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 7, pages 83-87, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    32. Romer, Paul M, 1996. "Why, Indeed, in America? Theory, History, and the Origins of Modern Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 202-206, May.
    33. Allen, Robert C., 1983. "Collective invention," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 1-24, March.
    34. Geroski, Paul A., 1995. "Market Structure, Corporate Performance, and Innovative Activity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288558.
    35. Lanjouw, Jean O & Schankerman, Mark, 2004. "Protecting Intellectual Property Rights: Are Small Firms Handicapped?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(1), pages 45-74, April.
    36. George Symeonidis, 1996. "Innovation, Firm Size and Market Structure: Schumpeterian Hypotheses and Some New Themes," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 161, OECD Publishing.
    37. Hall, Bronwyn & Van Reenen, John, 2000. "How effective are fiscal incentives for R&D? A review of the evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 449-469, April.
    38. Joachim Zietz & Bichaka Fayissa, 1992. "R & D expenditures and import competition: Some evidence for the U.S," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 128(1), pages 52-66, March.
    39. Wesley M. Cohen & Richard C. Levin & David C. Mowery, 1987. "Firm Size and R&D Intensity: A Re-Examination," NBER Working Papers 2205, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Davis, Nick, 2006. "Business R&D, Innovation and Economic Growth: An Evidence-Based Synthesis of the Policy Issues," Occasional Papers 06/8, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
    2. Procter, Roger, 2011. "Echanching Productivity: Towards an Updated Action Agenda," Occasional Papers 11/1, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
    3. Julia Hall & Grant M Scobie, 2006. "The Role of R&D in Productivity Growth: The Case of Agriculture in New Zealand: 1927 to 2001," Treasury Working Paper Series 06/01, New Zealand Treasury.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bettina Becker & Nigel Pain, 2008. "What Determines Industrial R&D Expenditure In The Uk?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 76(1), pages 66-87, January.
    2. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 129-213, Elsevier.
    3. Bettina Becker, 2013. "The Determinants of R&D Investment: A Survey of the Empirical Research," Discussion Paper Series 2013_09, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Sep 2013.
    4. Bettina Becker & Stephen Hall, 2013. "Do R&D strategies in high-tech sectors differ from those in low-tech sectors? An alternative approach to testing the pooling assumption," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 183-202, May.
    5. Christine Greenhalgh & Padraig Dixon, 2002. "The Economics of Intellectual Property: A Review to Identify Themes for Future Research," Economics Series Working Papers 135, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2009. "Drivers of national innovation in transition: Evidence from a panel of Eastern European countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 845-860, June.
    7. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2017. "What promotes R&D? Comparative evidence from around the world," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 447-462.
    8. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Lerner, Josh, 2010. "The Financing of R&D and Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-639, Elsevier.
    9. Ufuk Akcigit, 2009. "Firm Size, Innovation Dynamics and Growth," 2009 Meeting Papers 1267, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. José Ángel Zúñiga-Vicente & César Alonso-Borrego & Francisco J. Forcadell & José I. Galán, 2014. "Assessing The Effect Of Public Subsidies On Firm R&D Investment: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 36-67, February.
    11. Georgios Efthyvoulou & Priit Vahter, 2016. "Financial Constraints, Innovation Performance and Sectoral Disaggregation," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(2), pages 125-158, March.
    12. Tim Buyse & Freddy Heylen & Ruben Schoonackers, 2015. "On The Role Of Public Policies And Wage Formation For Private Investment In R&D: A Long-Run Panel Analysis," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 15/911, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    13. Bettina Becker, 2015. "Public R&D Policies And Private R&D Investment: A Survey Of The Empirical Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 917-942, December.
    14. Teplykh, Grigorii & Galimardanov, Amal, 2017. "Modeling of innovative investment in Russian regions," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 46, pages 104-125.
    15. Stavins, Robert & Jaffe, Adam & Newell, Richard, 2000. "Technological Change and the Environment," Working Paper Series rwp00-002, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    16. Silva Filipe & Carreira Carlos, 2017. "Financial Constraints: Do They Matter to Allocate R&D Subsidies?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 1-26, October.
    17. García-Quevedo, José & Segarra-Blasco, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2018. "Financial constraints and the failure of innovation projects," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 127-140.
    18. Castellacci, Fulvio, 2008. "Innovation and the competitiveness of industries: comparing the mainstream and the evolutionary approaches," MPRA Paper 27523, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Kamilia Loukil, 2016. "Innovation Policy and R&D Efficiency in Emerging Countries: a Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Eastern European Business and Economics Journal, Eastern European Business and Economics Studies Centre, vol. 2(3), pages 165-192.
    20. Harvey Goldstein & Joshua Drucker, 2006. "The Economic Development Impacts of Universities on Regions: Do Size and Distance Matter?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 20(1), pages 22-43, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D; patents; economic geography;
    All these keywords.

    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
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ris:nzmedo:2006_002. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Hilary Devine (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/medgvnz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.