Do R&D Expenditures Matter For Labor Productivity In Oecd Countries? An Unresolved Question

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between labor productivity and R&D expenditures. We have tested this relationship using a panel of 22 OECD countries that covers the period 1991-2003. ACobb-Douglas production function was estimated in growth form where physical capital, knowledge capital, human capital, and labor stock were included as the factors of production. The estimation results that also controlled for the effect of openness, and R&D spillovers implied a positive long-run R&D elasticity with respect to labor productivity growth. This result is robust to an alternative model where capital to labor ratio and labor variables are excluded. In this new model, the coefficient of the international trade variable included to account for openness was found to be positive.