An approach to estimate depreciation rate for constructing R&D capital stock

Araştırama ve Geliştirme (Ar-Ge) sermaye stoklarıyla ilgili resmi hesaplarda hiçbir veri olmaması sebebiyle, Ar-Ge harcamalarının sosyal getirilerini ölçmek Ar-Ge sermaye stokunun oluşturulmasını gerektirir. Ancak, Ar-Ge sermaye stoğunun Ar-Ge harcamalarından hesaplanması problemlidir, çünkü Ar-Ge sermayesinin bilinmeyen amortisman oranı ile ilgili bir varsayım yapılması zorunludur. Genellikle, ampirik çalışmalar %5 ile %15 arasında değişen amortisman oranı varsayımı ile devamlı envanter yöntemi kullanarak Ar-Ge sermaye stoğunu hesaplmaktadır. Varsayım ima ettiği, Ar-Ge faliyetlerinin gerçekleştirilip ya da gerçekleştiri- mediğinden bağımsız, her yıl Ar-Ge sermaye stokunun sabit bir yüzdesi kullanılmaz hale gelecektir. Birçok ekonomist Ar-Ge faliyetleri sonucunda üretilen bilginin mekanik bir şekilde değer yitirmediğini kabul eder. Bu çalışma , grid arama yöntemi kullanılarak, amortisman oranını -%20 ve %20 aralığında değiştirilerek, Ar-Ge sermaye stoğunu ve Ar-Ge getirilerinin tahminini eş zamanlı hesaplamayı amaçlar. Amortisman oranını tahmin etmek için üretim fonksiyonu yaklaşımı kullanıldı ve Görünürde İişkisiz Regresyon tahmin edicisi 13 OECD ülkesinin panel verilerine 1985-2005 dönemi için uygulandı. Sonuçlar tahmini edilen amortisman oranı %-3’tür ki Ar-Ge stoğunun değerinin azalmasından ziyade değerinin artacağını ifade eder.

Ar-Ge sermaye stoğu oluşturmak için amortisman oranı tahmininde bir yaklaşım

Measuring social returns to Research and Development expenditures (R&D) requires construction of R&D capital stock because there are no data on R&D capital stocks in the official accounts. However, the problem with the calculating the R&D stock capital from R&D expenditures is problematic because one has to make an assumption about the unknown depreciation rate of R&D capital. Generally, empirical studies construct to R&D capital stock using the perpetual inventory method with the assumption of depreciation rate ranges from 5% to 15%. The assumption implies that, independently of whether R&D is carried out or not, every year a constant percentage of the R&D capital stock become obsolete. Most economists would agree that knowledge produced via R&D facilities does not depreciate in such a mechanical way. In this study we propose to construct R&D capital stock and estimate returns to R&D simultaneously with grid search methodology that given depreciation rate ranges from –20% to 20%. Used production function approach to estimate depreciation rate and Seemingly Unrelated Regression estimator is applied to panel data from 13 OECD countries for the period 1985-2005. Results show that estimated depreciation rate is -3% implying appreciation of R&D stock rather than depreciation.

PDF

___

Arnold, J., Bassanini, A. & Scarpetta, S. (2007). Solow or Lucas? Testing growth models using panel data from OECD countries. OECD Economics Department working papers, no. 592.
Aschauer, D. A. (1989a). Is public expenditure productive? Journal of Monetary Economics, 23(2), pp. 177-200.
Barro, R. J., and X. Sala-i-Martin (1995). Economic Growth. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bassanini, A. & Scarpetta, S. (2002). Does human capital matter for growth in OECD countries? A pooled mean-group approach. Economics Letters, 74(3), pp. 399-405.
Ballester, M., Garcia-Ayuso, M. & Livnat, J. (2003). The economic value of the R&D intangible asset. European Accounting Review, 12(4), pp. 605-633.
Baumol, W. J. (2002). The free-market innovation machine: analyzing the growth miracle of capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Bayoumi, T., Coe, D.T., & Helpman, E. (1996). R&D spillovers and global growth. NBER Working Paper Series, no. 5628.
Bernard, A. B. & Jensen, B. J. (1999). Exceptional ex- porter performance: cause, effect, or both? Journal of International Economics, 47(1), pp. 1-25.
Berndt, E. R. & Hansson, B. (1999). Measuring the contribution of public infrastructure capital in Sweden. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 94(S), pp. S151-S168.
Bernstein, J. I. (1988). Costs of production, intra- and interindustry R&D spillovers: Canadian evidence. Canadian Journal of Economics, 21(2), pp. 324-347.
Bernstein, J. I. & Mamuneas, T. P. (2006). R&D depreciation, stocks, user costs and productivity growth for US R&D intensive industries. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 17(1), pp. 70-98.
Coe, D. T. & Helpman, E. (1995). International R&D spillovers. European Economic Review, 39(5), pp. 859-887.
Delgado, M. A., Farinas, J.C. & Ruano, S. (2002). Firm productivity and export market/: a non-parametric approach. Journal of International Economics, 57(2), pp. 397-422.
Evans, P. & Karras, G. (1994). Are government activities productive? Evidence from a panel of US states. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 76(1), pp. 1-1.
Griliches, Z. (1967). Distributed lags. Econometrica, 37, pp. 16-49.
Griliches, Z. (1979). Issues in assessing the contribu- tion of research and development to productivity growth. Bell Journal Economics, 10(1), pp. 92-116.
Griliches, Z. (1988). Productivity puzzles and R&D: another nonexplanation. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2(4), pp. 9-21.
Griliches, Z. (1998). R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, pp. 1-2.
Griliches, Z. & Lichtenberg, F. (1984). R&D and productivity growth at the industry level: is there still a relationship? In Z. Griliches (Ed). R&D, Patents, and Productivity (pp. 465-501). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Greenaway, D., & Kneller R. (2007). Exporting, productivity and agglomeration. European Economic Review, doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2007.07.001
Grossman, G. & Helpman, E. (1991). Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy. MIT Press: Cambridge.
Hall, B. H. (2007). Measuring the returns to R&D: the depreciation problem. NBER Working Paper, no. 13473.
Healy, B. (2006, September). Behind the Baby Count. U.S.News & World Report. http://health.usnews. com/usnews/health/articles/060924/2healy.htm
Holtz-Eakin, D. (1994). Public-sector capital and the productivity puzzle. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 76(1), pp. 12-21.
Jaffe, A. B. (1986). Technological opportunity and spillovers of R&D: evidence from firm’s patents, profits, and market value. The American Economic Review, 76(5), pp. 984-1001.
Keller, W. (1998). Are international R&D spillovers trade-related? Analysing spillovers among randomly matched trade partners. European Economic Review, 42(8), pp. 1469-1481
Keller, W. & Yeaple, S. R. (2003). Multinational enterp- rises, international trade, and productivity growth: firm level evidence from the United States NBER Working Paper, no. 9504.
Lev, B. & Sougiannis, T. (1996). The capitalization, amortization, and value-relevance of R&D. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 21(1), pp. 107-138.
Lipsey, R. E. (2002). Home and host country effects of FDI. NBER Working Paper Series, no. 9293. Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Morris, M. D. (1979). Measuring the condition of the world’s poor: the physical quality of life index. New York: Pergamon Press.
Mosteller, F. & Tukey, J.W. (1977). Data analysis and regression: a second course in statistics. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Munnell, A. H. (1990). Why has productivity growth declined? Productivity and public investment. New England Economic Review, (January), Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Nadiri, M. I. (1993). Innovations and technological spillovers. NBER Working Paper, no. 4423.
Nadiri, M. I., & Mamuneas, T. P. (1994). Infrastructure and public R&D investments, and the growth of factor productivity in US manufacturing industries. NBER Working Paper Series, no. 4845.
Nadiri, M. I., & Prucha, I. R. (1996). Estimation of the depreciation rate of physical and R&D capital in the U.S. total manufacturing. Economic Inquiry, 34(1), pp. 43-56.
National Council on Public Works Improvements (1988). Fragile foundations: a report on America’s public works. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
OECD (1993). The measurement of scientific and technological activities: standard practice for surveys of experimental development – Frascati Manual 1993. Paris: OECD Press.
OECD (2005). OECD science, technology, and industry scoreboard. Paris: OECD Press.
Romer, P. M. (1990). Endogenous technological change. Journal of Political Economy, 98, pp. S71-S102.
Schankerman, M. & Pakes, A. (1986). Estimates of the value of patent rights in European countries during the post-1950 period. The Economic Journal, 96(384), pp. 1052-1076.
Solow, R. M. (1956). A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), pp. 65-94.
Tatom, J. A. (1991). Public capital and private sector performance. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, 73(3), pp. 3-15.
van Pottelsberghe de la Porterie, B., & Lichtenberg, F. (2001). Does Foreign Direct Investment Transfer Technology across Borders? The Review of Economics and Statistics, 83(3), pp. 490-497.
Wagner, J. (2002). The casual effects of exports on firm size and labor productivity: first evidence from a matching approach. Economic Letters, 77(2), pp. 443-472.
Wieser, R. (2005). Research and development productivity and spillovers: Empirical evidence at the firm level. Journal of Economic Surveys, 19(4), pp. 587-621.