This paper provides a structural approach to test investment equations based on the log-likelihood function of a non-linear investment rule. The analysis integrates the predictions of the q-theory for the commonly studied active region of investment, and provides new inferences on how real and...

Investment is a means to experiment with technologies, creating valuable knowledge for firms. We analyze the feedback interaction between investment and knowledge through endogenous cycles of experimentation and exploration. Because experimentation is uncertain, firms become averse to investing...

We study whether, how, and why the investment of a firm depends on the investment of other firms in the same product market. Using an instrumental variable based on the presence of local knowledge externalities, we find a sizeable complementarity of investment among product market peers, holding...