Note on R&D expenditures and fixed capital formation

Abstract

In this paper we deal with the fixed capital nature of the means of production and labour employed in research and development which generate scientific and technological knowledge. We argue that these R&D current expenditures typically have the nature of fixed investments. We then present an empirical analysis which shows that expenditures on industrial R&D are more strongly linked to the formation of fixed capital than to the formation of capital in general. Applying this conclusion to the economics of research and innovation would make it possible to analyse investments in the production of scientific and technological knowledge with a higher degree of clarity and precision.