Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South Africa

Neo Molotja (), Saahier Parker () and Precious Mudavanhu ()
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Neo Molotja: Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa
Saahier Parker: Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa
Precious Mudavanhu: Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa

Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), 2019, vol. 13, issue 3, 51-60

Abstract: The paper explores the patterns of business investment in research and development (R&D) using evidence from companies in South Africa, in comparison with indicators for a number of other countries. This study covers the period 2006–2016, the studied companies were grouped by the amount of R&D expenditures (BERD), the number of reports on research performance for the first and last years of monitoring. A typical characteristic of private sector R&D activities is the uneven distribution of resources in space and time. The major financial and other assets are concentrated within few large companies from a limited number of industries, while the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises invest in R&D projects only sporadically, for a period of no more than two consequential years. Firms that perform R&D for longer periods invest in R&D incrementally and remain more persistent than enterprises performing less R&D for shorter time periods. In view of the common nature of a number of patterns, these observations suggest different approaches to policies supporting R&D performance in the business sector not only in South Africa, but also in other countries.

Keywords: R&D performance; BERD; concentration; persistence; volatility; business sector; policy; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O32 O39 O55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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