On the Cyclicality of Research and Development

Gadi Barlevy

American Economic Review, 2007, vol. 97, issue 4, 1131-1164

Abstract: Economists have recently argued recessions play a useful role in fostering growth. Yet a major source of growth, R&D, is procyclical. This paper argues one reason for procyclical R&D is a dynamic externality inherent in R&D that makes entrepreneurs short-sighted and concentrate their innovation in booms, even when it is optimal to concentrate it in recessions. Additional forces may imply that procyclical R&D is desirable, but equilibrium R&D is likely to be too procyclical, and macroeconomic shocks are likely to have overly persistent effects on output and make growth more costly than in the absence of such shocks.

Date: 2007
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.97.4.1131
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