The Impact of R&D Investment on Productivity--New Evidence Using Linked R&D-LRD Data.

This paper uses confidential Census longitudinal microdata to examine the association between R&D and productivity for the period 1972-85. These data allow for significant improvements in measurement and model specification, yielding more precise estimates of the returns to R&D. The authors' results confirm the findings of existing studies: (1) positive returns to R&D investment; (2) higher returns to company-financed research; and (3) a productivity "premium" on basic research. These results are robust to adjustments for "influential outliers." Also, the authors' evidence suggests that the return to company-financed R&D is an increasing function of firm size. Copyright 1991 by Oxford University Press.