Working Paper: NBER ID: w2205
Authors: Wesley M. Cohen; Richard C. Levin; David C. Mowery
Abstract: Using data from the Federal Trade Commission's Line of Business Program and survey measures of technological opportunity and appropriability conditions, this paper finds that overall firm size has a very small, statistically in- significant effect on business unit R & D intensity when either fixed industry effects or measured industry characteristics are taken into account. Business unit size has no effect on the R & D intensity of business units that perform R & D, but it affects the probability of conducting R & D. Business unit and firm size jointly explain less than one per cent of the variance in R & D intensity; industry effects explain nearly half the variance.
Keywords: R&D; firm size; innovation; Schumpeterian hypothesis
JEL Codes: O31; L25
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| firm size (L25) | probability of conducting R&D (O32) |
| industry effects (L19) | R&D intensity (O32) |
| firm size + business unit size (L25) | R&D intensity (O32) |
| firm size (L25) | R&D intensity (O32) |
| firm size (L25) | R&D intensity (O32) |