Effects of R&D spending on Innovation by Irish and Foreign-owned Businesses

Doran, Justin and Jordan, Declan and O'Leary, Eoin (2013): Effects of R&D spending on Innovation by Irish and Foreign-owned Businesses. Published in: Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland , Vol. 166, (2013)

Abstract

This paper estimates the private returns to four different kinds of R&D spending on the probability of Irish and foreign-owned businesses engaging in product, process and organizational innovation. By providing econometric analysis of nearly 2000 businesses in the Community Innovation Survey: 2004 to 2006, it makes an important contribution to our understanding of the effects of Irish innovation policy, which has incentivized businesses to spend on R&D in Ireland. The main findings are that Irish owned businesses are significantly more likely than foreign-owned to introduce new products as a result of creative R&D work undertaken. Foreign-owned businesses, which spend nearly 6 times more per worker on R&D than Irish-owned, enjoy very high returns mostly from the purchase or licence of patents. This reflects a fundamental difference in the innovation activities of these businesses, which is critical for policymakers’ understanding of the Irish innovation system.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Innovation Policy; Innovation Output; Research & Development
• Subjects: 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; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R19 - Other

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