R&D plans, expectations, and uncertainty: Evidence from the COVID-19 shock in Italy

Emanuele Brancati

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 2023, vol. 67, issue C, 303-318

Abstract: This paper takes advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak to explore the determinants of firms’ R&D choices around an exogenous shock. We make use of unique panel data on 7,800 Italian companies between January –right before the pandemic– and March 2020 –amid lockdown policies. We exploit the short-run revision in firms’ research plans to test the impact of deteriorating expectations and uncertainty on firms’ R&D. In addition to the significant role played by firms’ expectations, we find that preexisting innovative activities significantly shaped the reaction to the general uncertainty shock.

Keywords: Firms; R&D; Expectations; Uncertainty; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 D84 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Working Paper: R&D Plans, Expectations, and Uncertainty: Evidence from the COVID-19 Shock in Italy (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:streco:v:67:y:2023:i:c:p:303-318

DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2023.08.007

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