R&D Productivity: An Exploratory International Study

Yuan Ding (First Author), Hervé Stolowy (Participant Author), Michel Tenenhaus (Participant Author)

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Abstract

Purpose – The objective of this exploratory paper is to investigate the impact of R&D expenditures on company performance. R&D activities play an essential role in the future economic development and financial performance of firms. Design/methodology/approach – The research design is based on an earnings equation associating earnings with recorded assets, R&D expenditures and selling, general and administrative expenses (proxying for advertising expenses). The paper determines a rate of return on R&D for each given sample of firms in six developed countries. Findings – The results corroborate previous studies of American companies, which found that reported earnings, adjusted for expensing of R&D, reflect realized benefits from R&D. This study provides further evidence on the positive contribution of R&D activities to future company performance, although this contribution can vary from one country to another. Research limitations/implications – Being exploratory in nature, this paper suggests several areas for investigation. Originality/value – With the exception of some American studies, the economic effectiveness of investment in R&D is seldom demonstrated explicitly by the literature, and to the best of our knowledge, there are no existing studies on R&D productivity taking an international approach.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)86-101
JournalReview of Accounting and Finance
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Keywords

  • Company performance
  • Investments
  • Research and development

Indexed by

  • ABDC-C
  • Scopus

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Ding, Y., Stolowy, H., & Tenenhaus, M. (2013). R&D Productivity: An Exploratory International Study. Review of Accounting and Finance, 6(1), 86-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/14757700710725476