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Research Details
Measuring the Private and Social Returns to R&D: Unintended Spillovers versus Technology Markets, Journal of Political Economy
Abstract
The canonical approach to measuring private and social returns to R&D assumes diffusion through spillovers. We develop a general framework that allows R&D to diffuse through both spillovers and voluntary technology transfers. To operationalize the framework, we create a data set of interactions in the market for technology between publicly held US firms. We use changes in tax incentives for R&D to identify causal effects. Taking market channels into account decreases the observed difference between social and private returns to R&D as compared with the canonical approach. The analysis suggests significant gains from trade in markets for technology.
Type
Article
Author(s)
Date Published
2022
Citations
. 2022. Measuring the Private and Social Returns to R&D: Unintended Spillovers versus Technology Markets. Journal of Political Economy.(7): 1860–1918.