Publications
Publications
- 2010
- HBS Working Paper Series
Growth through Heterogeneous Innovations
By: Ufuk Akcigit and William R. Kerr
Abstract
We study how exploration versus exploitation innovations impact economic growth through a tractable endogenous growth framework that contains multiple innovation sizes, multi-product firms, and entry/exit. Firms invest in exploration R&D to acquire new product lines and exploitation R&D to improve their existing product lines. We model and show empirically that exploration R&D does not scale as strongly with firm size as exploitation R&D. The resulting framework conforms to many regularities regarding innovation and growth differences across the firm size distribution. We also incorporate patent citations into our theoretical framework. The framework generates a simple test using patent citations that indicates that entrants and small firms have relatively higher growth spillover effects.
Keywords
Business Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Economic Growth; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Size; Research and Development; United States
Citation
Akcigit, Ufuk, and William R. Kerr. "Growth through Heterogeneous Innovations." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 11-044, October 2010. (SSRN, HBS WP 11-044.)