The impact of R&D strategy and firm size on the returns to innovation
by Mario Kafouros, Chengqi Wang, George Lodorfos
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business (IJESB), Vol. 8, No. 4, 2009

Abstract: Using a firm-level dataset of manufacturing firms, this study examines the economic returns to R&D in the UK. It contributes to the literature of innovation by investigating two firm-specific characteristics (firm size and R&D strategy) that may influence what a company itself gets for its own research efforts (private returns to R&D). The findings indicate that, on average, the rate of return to R&D is 0.33. However, the results show that the economic payoff for larger firms as well as for organisations that followed an R&D-intensive strategy is significantly higher, allowing such firms to improve their corporate performance. In contrast, the analysis indicates that less R&D-intensive and smaller firms cannot successfully appropriate the economic benefits of industrial research. The implications of these findings for academic research and regional economic development are discussed.

Online publication date: Sat, 23-May-2009

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business (IJESB):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com