Research Productivity and Economic Growth: A Policy Lesson Learnt from Across the Globe

Authors

1 Department of Economics, University of Wah, Quaid Avenue, Wah Cantt, Pakistan

2 School of Finance, College of Business and Public Management, Kean University, NJ, USA, Wenzhou-Kean University Campus, Wenzhou, PR China

3 Department of Management Sciences, FATA University, F.R. Kohat, Pakistan

Abstract

The relationship between research productivity and economic growth is the subject of information science which deals in this study to examine the impact of number of publications, research & development (R&D) expenditures and researchers involved in R&D activities on economic growth in the World’s largest regions for the period of 1980–2011. The study further expanded the research-growth nexus in the context of top twenty nations in terms of research output for the field of science and social sciences. The results confirmed the long-run relationship between research output and economic growth; while there is bidirectional causality between real economic growth and number of publication, in United States, Italy, Spain, Australia, India, Netherlands, Brazil, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Poland. Similarly, there is two-way causal relationship between real economic growth and R&D expenditures in USA, China, UK, Japan, India, Switzerland, Taiwan, Sweden, and Turkey. Finally, there is evident of feedback hypothesis between real economic growth and researchers involved in R&D activities in the USA, UK, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The direction of causality is crucial because it has significantly policy implications for economic development.
 

Keywords


Cassia, L., De Massis, A., Meoli, M., & Minola, T. (2014). Entrepreneurship Research Centers around the World: Research Orientation, Knowledge Transfer and Performance. The Journal of Technology Transfer39(3), 376-392.
Cheng, T., & Zhang, G. (2013). Worldwide Research Productivity in the Field of Rheumatology from 1996 to 2010: A Bibliometric Analysis. Rheumatology52(9), 1630-1634.
García-Manjón, J. V., & Romero-Merino, M. E. (2012). Research, Development, and Firm Growth. Empirical Evidence from European Top R&D Spending Firms. Research Policy41(6), 1084-1092.
Guloglu, B., & Tekin, R. B. (2012). A Panel Causality Analysis of the Relationship among Research and Development, Innovation, and Economic growth in High-Income OECD Countries. Eurasian Economic Review2(1), 32-47.
Hall, B. H., Lotti, F., & Mairesse, J. (2013). Evidence on the Impact of R&D and ICT Investments on Innovation and Productivity in Italian Firms. Economics of Innovation and New Technology22(3), 300-328.
Inglesi-Lotz, R., & Pouris, A. (2013). The Influence of Scientific Research Output of Academics on Economic Growth in South Africa: An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Application. Scientometrics, 95(1), 129-139.
Inglesi-Lotz, R., Chang, T., & Gupta, R. (2015). Causality between Research Output and Economic Growth in BRICS. Quality & Quantity, 49(1), 167-176.
Jiménez-Sáez, F., Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, J. M., & Zofío, J. L. (2013). Who Leads Research Productivity Growth? Guidelines for R&D Policy-Makers. Scientometrics94(1), 273-303.
Jin, J. C. (2010). Research Publications, Economic Growth and Causality: Japan''s Experience. Pacific Economic Review15(5), 666-673.
Ketzler, R., & Zimmermann, K. F. (2013). A Citation-Analysis of Economic Research Institutes. Scientometrics95(3), 1095-1112.
Kumbhakar, S. C., Ortega-Argilés, R., Potters, L., Vivarelli, M., & Voigt, P. (2012). Corporate R&D and Firm Efficiency: Evidence from Europe’s Top R&D Investors. Journal of Productivity Analysis37(2), 125-140.
Lee, L. C., Lin, P. H., Chuang, Y. W., & Lee, Y. Y. (2011). Research Output and Economic Productivity: A Granger Causality Test. Scientometrics, 89(2), 465-478.
Maskus, K. E., Neumann, R., & Seidel, T. (2012). How National and International Financial Development Affect Industrial R&D. European Economic Review56(1), 72-83.
Moscone, F., Tosetti, E., Costantini, M., & Ali, M. (2013). The Impact of Scientific Research on Health Care: Evidence from the OECD Countries. Economic Modelling32, 325-332.
Ntuli, H., Inglesi‐Lotz, R., Chang, T., & Pouris, A. (2015). Does Research Output Cause Economic Growth or Vice Versa? Evidence from 34 OECD Countries. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology66(8), 1709-1716.
Vinkler, P. (2008). Correlation between the Structure of Scientific Research. Scientometric Indicators and GDP in EU and Non-EU Countries. Scientometrics, 74, 237–254.
Wakelin, K. (2001). Productivity Growth and R&D Expenditure in UK Manufacturing Firms. Research Policy30(7), 1079-1090.
Westmore, B. (2013). R&D, Patenting and Growth: The Role of Public Policy. OECD Economics Department Working Papers, 1047, Retrieved From http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k46h2rfb4f3-en.
World Bank (2012). World Development Indicators, World Bank, Washington, DC, Retrieved from
Yang, C. H., & Chen, Y. H. (2012). R&D, Productivity, and Exports: Plant-Level Evidence from Indonesia. Economic Modelling29(2), 208-216.