BOUNDING THE EFFECTS OF RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT - AN INVESTIGATION USING MATCHED ESTABLISHMENT-FIRM DATA

We find that the effects of parent firm R&D on plant-level productivit y are diminished by both the geographic and technological distance bet ween the research lab and the plants; that productivity appears to dep end on R&D per plant rather than the total amount; and that spillovers from technologically related firms are significant but also depend on R&D intensity rather than total industry R&D. These results suggest t hat the ''dilution'' of R&D across multiple target plants reduces its potency sufficiently that spillovers may not be a source of industrywi de or economywide increasing returns.