Productivity, R&D, and Basic Research at the Firm Level in the 1970s

Abstract

A new data set for approximately 1, 000 largest manufacturing firms inthe United States during 1957-77 is analyzed using a standard production function framework augmented by the addition of R&D "capital" and "mix" variables. The results indicate that R&D continued to contribute to productivity growth with no significant decline in its effectiveness in the 1970s as compared to the 1960s; that the contribution of basic research was significantly higher than its nominal ratio would imply; and that federally financed R&D expenditures had a positive but smaller effect on the productivity growth of these firms than the comparable contribution of privately financed R&D expenditures. Copyright 1986 by American Economic Association.