Journal of Political Economy Vol. 130 No. 7 2022
Measuring the Private and Social Returns to R&D: Unintended Spillovers versus Technology Markets
open access
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.
- DOI
- 10.1086/719908
- Volume
- 130
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1860-1918
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib