Please click here if you are unable to view this page.
TOPIC:
INNOVATION NETWORKS AND R&D ALLOCATION
ABSTRACT
We study the cross-sector allocation of R&D resources in a multisector growth model with an innovation network, where one sector’s past innovations may benefit other sectors’ future innovations. Theoretically, we solve for the optimal path of R&D resource allocation. We show a planner valuing long-term growth should allocate more R&D toward upstream sectors in the innovation network, but the incentive is muted in open economies that rely on foreign knowledge spillovers. We derive sufficient statistics for evaluating the welfare cost of R&D misallocation. Empirically, we build the global innovation network based on patent citations and establish its empirical importance for knowledge spillovers. We evaluate R&D allocative efficiency across countries using model-based sufficient statistics. Japan has the highest allocative efficiency among the advanced economies. For the U.S., reducing R&D misallocation down to Japan’s level could generate more than 28% welfare gains.