How do demand fluctations and credit constraints affect R&D? Evidence from Central, Southern and Eastern Europe.

The opportunity cost approach suggesting a countervailing cyclical effect between R&D and short-term investments is the subject of theoretical and empirical debate. We extend the discussion by investigating the impact of demand fluctuations and credit constraints on firms' R&D in ten new EU member states from Central, Southern and Eastern Europe (CSEE). Using membership of the OECD as a proxy for the country's level of development we find more counter-cyclicality amongst the firms in non-OECD CSEE countries, while a similar but somewhat less accentuated counter-cyclical pattern of R&D behaviour emerges in the more advanced OECD-CSEE countries. Surprisingly, any adverse effect from credit constraints on firm's engagement in R&D is largely absent in CSEE countries