Macroeconomic instability and the incentive to innovate

Masino, Serena (2012): Macroeconomic instability and the incentive to innovate.

Abstract

This paper investigates the channels through which macroeconomic instability prevents or hinders innovative investment undertakings financed by the domestic private sector. The analysis is based on a sample of 48 countries, representing all levels of development, and it estimates various measures of macroeconomic instability, such as political, real and monetary volatility. The results suggest a negative impact of instability on the share of R&D financed by the business sector. These outcomes highlight the desirability of counter-cyclical policy interventions aiming to prevent the avoidance or abandonment of private R&D undertakings in unstable macroeconomic environments.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Macroeconomic Volatility, Political Instability, R&D Investment, Innovation
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models ; Multiple Variables > C33 - Panel Data Models ; Spatio-temporal Models

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