Full Citation

Title: R&D Capital and the Idea Production Function

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2023

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.4446749

NSFID:

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PMID:

Abstract: We supplement the 'Idea Production Function' (IPF) with measures of R&D capital. We construct the R&D capital stock in the US, and estimate the IPF with patent applications as R&D output, allowing for a flexible treatment of R&D productivity (over 1968-2019). The estimated substitution elasticity between R&D inputs is 0.7 − 0.8. Hence R&D capital is an essential factor in producing ideas, complementary to R&D labor. There is a positive trend in R&D labor productivity (∼ 1%) and cyclical variation of R&D capital productivity. Instead of 'ideas getting harder to find', there is a scarcity of R&D capital needed to find them.

Url: https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4446749

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Authors: Growiec, Jakub; McAdam, Peter; Muck, Jakub

Series Title:

Publication Number: 23-05

Institution: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Pages: 1-62

Publisher Location:

Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS CPS

Topics: Other

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