Are Ideas Being Fished Out
23 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2020 Last revised: 26 Jul 2021
Date Written: July 23, 2021
Abstract
This paper examines whether declining research productivity can be explained by fishing out—is the production of new knowledge decreasing in the level of existing knowledge? We estimate the knowledge production function for US firms and find instead that knowledge production is increasing in the knowledge stock. This is reinforced by the observation that maximum research productivity across firms is increasing over time. Given that fishing out appears unable to explain the decline in research productivity, we offer preliminary evidence of contingent factors that might contribute to the decline.
Keywords: R&D productivity, research productivity, growth
JEL Classification: D24, E23, O31, O47
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation