Economic policy uncertainty, R&D expenditures and innovation outputs
ISSN: 0144-3585
Article publication date: 12 June 2020
Issue publication date: 2 February 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the news-based economic policy uncertainty (EPU), research and development (R&D) expenditures per capita and innovation outputs.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 1996 to 2015 for 19 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States) are used. The authors apply country and year fixed-effects models for the estimations.
Findings
The study findings show that higher levels of EPU are positively associated with higher R&D expenditures per capita as well as innovation outputs (patent applications, patent grants and trademark applications).
Practical implications
This study deepens our understanding on the policy uncertainty–economic activities nexus and expands the literature on uncertainty, which is still at an initial phase of development, leading to generate a variety of open research questions for further investigation and study (Bloom, 2014).
Originality/value
There has not been an empirical investigation on the links between EPU and R&D expenditures and innovation outputs across several countries. The authors address this gap in the literature.
Keywords
Citation
Tajaddini, R. and Gholipour, H.F. (2021), "Economic policy uncertainty, R&D expenditures and innovation outputs", Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 413-427. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-12-2019-0573
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited