DO BUSINESS CYCLES ALTER THE COMPOSITION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EXPENDITURES?

摘要

Do business cycles cause firms to alter the composition of research and development (R&D) expenditures? This article uses aggregate data on U. S. firm-financed R&D expenditures during the 1956-96 period to address this issue. The mix of R&D expenditures changes over the business cycles with firms increasing the amount of basic R&D and reducing the amount of development R&D during recessions. Though the effects are small, the results raise the possibility that business cycles influence the rate of long-run growth.