Spillovers in R&D activities: An empirical analysis of the Nordic countries

This paper analyzes the impact of public research and development (R&D) on private sector output. It is argued that giving away public R&D will increase the input supply of private R&D and, accordingly, will enlarge business sector output. A model based on panel data for all five Nordic countries is estimated by a maximum likelihood procedure allowing for nonlinear relationships. The hypothesis is also tested within a cointegration methodology framework. Evidence is present concerning national spillovers from public R&D to private R&D in Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. For Norway and Sweden, international spillover effects seem to be more dominant. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Atlantic Economic Conference, October 7–10, 1999, Montreal, Canada. The authors are grateful to conference discussants and an anonymous referee for useful comments.