IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ubc/bricol/diewert-08-01-18-09-24-04.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Capitalizing R&D Expenditures

Author

Listed:
  • Diewert, Erwin
  • Huang, Ning

Abstract

The next international version of the System of National Accounts will recommend that R&D (Research and Development) expenditures be capitalized instead of being immediately expensed as in the present System of National Accounts 1993. An R&D project creates a new technology, which in principle does not depreciate like a reproducible asset. A new technology is however subject to obsolescence, which acts in a manner that is somewhat similar to depreciation. The paper looks at the net benefits of an R&D project in the context of a very simple intertemporal general equilibrium model and suggests that R&D expenditures be amortized using the matching principle that has been developed in the accounting literature to match the fixed costs of a project to a stream of future benefits. Of particular interest is the evaluation of the net benefits of a publicly funded project where the results are made freely available to the public.

Suggested Citation

  • Diewert, Erwin & Huang, Ning, 2008. "Capitalizing R&D Expenditures," Economics working papers diewert-08-01-18-09-24-04, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 18 Jan 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:ubc:bricol:diewert-08-01-18-09-24-04
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://microeconomics.ca/erwin_diewert/dp0804.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adam M. Copeland & Gabriel W. Medeiros & Carol A. Robbins, 2007. "Estimating Prices for R&D Investment in the 2007 R&D Satellite Account," BEA Papers 0083, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    2. Romer, Paul, 1994. "New goods, old theory, and the welfare costs of trade restrictions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 5-38, February.
    3. Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), 2005. "Handbook of Economic Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    4. W. Diewert & Alice Nakamura, 2003. "Index Number Concepts, Measures and Decompositions of Productivity Growth," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 127-159, April.
    5. Bert Balk, 2003. "The Residual: On Monitoring and Benchmarking Firms, Industries, and Economies with Respect to Productivity," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 5-47, July.
    6. Bert M. Balk, 2007. "Measuring Productivity Change without Neoclassical Assumptions: A Conceptual Analysis," CEPA Working Papers Series WP042007, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    7. Diewart, W Erwin & Morrison, Catherine J, 1986. "Adjusting Output and Productivity Indexes for Changes in the Terms of Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(383), pages 659-679, September.
    8. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1393-1414, November.
    9. Samuelson, Paul A, 1974. "Complementarity-An Essay on the 40th Anniversary of the Hicks-Allen Revolution in Demand Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 1255-1289, December.
    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. Leonard I. Nakamura, 2009. "Intangible assets and national income accounting: measuring a scientific revolution," Working Papers 09-11, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    2. Leonard I. Nakamura, 2010. "Intangible Assets And National Income Accounting," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(s1), pages 135-155, June.
    3. Bert M. Balk, 2007. "Measuring Productivity Change without Neoclassical Assumptions: A Conceptual Analysis," CEPA Working Papers Series WP042007, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    4. Bert M. Balk, 2010. "An Assumption‐Free Framework For Measuring Productivity Change," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(s1), pages 224-256, June.
    5. Robert J. Hill & Alice O. Nakamura, 2010. "Improving Inflation And Related Performance Measures For Nations: An Introduction," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(s1), pages 1-10, June.

    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. Barnett, William A. & Erwin Diewert, W. & Zellner, Arnold, 2011. "Introduction to measurement with theory," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 161(1), pages 1-5, March.
    2. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2017. "Decomposing Value Added Growth into Explanatory Factors," Discussion Papers 2017-02, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    3. Diewert, Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2019. "Productivity Indexes and National Statistics: Theory, Methods and Challenges," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2019-8, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 25 Apr 2019.
    4. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2016. "Kevin J. Fox Interview of W. Erwin Diewert," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2016-6, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Jun 2016.
    5. Bert M. Balk, 2010. "An Assumption‐Free Framework For Measuring Productivity Change," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(s1), pages 224-256, June.
    6. Diewert, W. Erwin, 2014. "Decompositions of profitability change using cost functions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(1), pages 58-66.
    7. W. Diewert, 2011. "Measuring productivity in the public sector: some conceptual problems," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 177-191, October.
    8. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2021. "The Difference Approach to Productivity Measurement and Exact Indicators," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, in: Christopher F. Parmeter & Robin C. Sickles (ed.), Advances in Efficiency and Productivity Analysis, pages 9-40, Springer.
    9. Thijs ten Raa & Victoria Shestalova, 2021. "The Solow Residual, Domar Aggregation, and Inefficiency: A Synthesis of TFP Measures," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Efficiency and Input-Output Analyses Theory and Applications, chapter 2, pages 23-38, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. Khaled Elmawazini & Elias G. Saleeby & Ahmed Ibn el Farouk & Bashayer AL-Naser, 2018. "Tripartite decomposition of labor productivity growth, FDI and human development: evidence from transition economies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 153-171, May.
    11. Diewert, Erwin & Mizobuchi, Hideyuki, 2009. "An Economic Approach to the Measurement of Productivity Growth Using Differences Instead of Ratios," Economics working papers erwin_diewert-2009-2, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 09 Jan 2009.
    12. Diewert, W. Erwin, 2017. "Productivity Measurement in the Public Sector: Theory and Practice," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2017-1, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Feb 2017.
    13. Marion Dovis, 2009. "Formulation et estimation des modèles de mesure de la productivité totale des facteurs : une étude sur un panel d'entreprises turques," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 119(6), pages 945-982.
    14. Diewert, Erwin, 2007. "Index Numbers," Economics working papers diewert-07-01-03-08-17-23, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 31 Jan 2007.
    15. Ten Raa, T. & Shestalova, V., 2006. "Alternative Measures of Total Factor Productivity Growth," Other publications TiSEM 5366de12-2381-4ed8-859b-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Epure, Mircea & Kerstens, Kristiaan & Prior, Diego, 2011. "Technology-based total factor productivity and benchmarking: New proposals and an application," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 608-619, December.
    17. Paul S. Segerstrom & Ignat Stepanok, 2018. "Learning How To Export," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 120(1), pages 63-92, January.
    18. Ghali, Sofiane & Mohnen, Pierre, 2010. "Economic restructuring and total factor productivity growth: Tunisia over the period 1983-2001," MERIT Working Papers 2010-033, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Filippetti, Andrea & Payrache, Antonio, 2010. "Productivity growth and catch up in Europe: A new perspective on total factor productivity differences," MPRA Paper 27212, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Fox, Kevin J. & Grafton, R. Quentin & Kirkley, James & Squires, Dale, 2003. "Property rights in a fishery: regulatory change and firm performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 156-177, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cost benefit analysis; R&D project; intertemporal general equilibrium theory; money metric utility scaling; matching principle; amortization; deprecia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • C67 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Input-Output Models
    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models
    • C82 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • D45 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Rationing; Licensing
    • D57 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Input-Output Tables and Analysis
    • D58 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Computable and Other Applied General Equilibrium Models

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ubc:bricol:diewert-08-01-18-09-24-04. 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: Maureen Chin (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.economics.ubc.ca/ .

    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.