Nonlinear capital market payoffs to science-led innovation

Houdou Basse Mama

Research Policy, 2018, vol. 47, issue 6, 1084-1095

Abstract: This study explores the extent to which cross-sectional differences in firms’ propensity to absorb and utilize scientific knowledge matter for their stock market and operating performance. Unlike previous empirical studies and given the coexistence of both benefits and potential costs to science-guided search, I conceptualize innovation as a recombinant search to hypothesize a non-monotonic relationship. Using patent data from the European Patent Office (EPO) relative to 3281 international firms over the 1999–2015 period, empirical tests yield evidence in support of the predictions. However, the effect varies with firm-level absorptive capacity, across industries and countries. As suggested by a limited attention model, I find a stronger payoff predictive power of science for firms with lower investor attention and higher valuation uncertainty. Besides, the association between science and future operating performance increases with time, indicating that firms’ scientific capabilities are a potent driver of long-term profitability. The conclusions are robust to controlling for the endogenous nature of firms’ use of scientific knowledge. By providing a useful basis upon which to judge the economic merit of firms’ innovation endeavors, this study contributes to reducing capital market imperfections that curtail access to external finance and ultimately spurring private-sector investment in R&D. It also provides evidence of diminishing marginal payoffs to science-led search. Finally, the evidence is likely to be relevant to policymakers, who might wish to influence the innovation ecosystem in a way to sustain long-term prosperity.

Keywords: Science; Innovation; Stock returns; Firm value; Profitability; Limited attention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G11 G12 O16 O30 O31 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733318300714
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:47:y:2018:i:6:p:1084-1095

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2018.03.013

Access Statistics for this article

Research Policy is currently edited by M. Bell, B. Martin, W.E. Steinmueller, A. Arora, M. Callon, M. Kenney, S. Kuhlmann, Keun Lee and F. Murray

More articles in Research Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().