ABSTRACT

Given the importance of technological improvement for economic growth, policies are designed to enhance technological progress. A very common policy approach is to provide incentives to R&D (research and development) activities to improve the possibility of favorable outcomes. This study investigates the impact of R&D incentives on R&D outcomes measured in terms of patent applications and patent grants. The analysis focuses on the data for four sectors from 15 high-income countries covering the 2007 to 2019 period. A U-shaped pattern is observed to dominate the relationship between R&D incentives and R&D outcomes. For incentives to have positive impacts on R&D outcomes, they must be of a considerable portion of the national income. The study also covers the knowledge stocks and the implied spill-overs across sectors. The analysis does not reveal a single sector that generates innovative spill-overs to all the other sectors.

摘要

鉴于技术进步对经济增长的重要性，政策旨在促进​​技术进步。一种非常常见的政策方法是为研发活动提供激励，以提高取得良好成果的可能性。本研究调查了研发激励措施对以专利申请和专利授权衡量的研发成果的影响。该分析重点关注 2007 年至 2019 年期间 15 个高收入国家四个部门的数据。研究发现，研发激励与研发成果之间的关系呈 U 形模式。为了对研发成果产生积极影响，激励措施必须占国民收入的相当大一部分。该研究还涵盖了知识存量和隐含的跨部门溢出效应。