The struggle to survive in the R&D sector: Implications for innovation and growth

By allowing for investment activities by research and development (R&D) firms to prevent product obsolescence, we show that if legal patent protection is too strong, a higher R&D subsidy rate delivers insufficient investments for survival in the R&D sector, depressing innovation and growth in the long run.     

An International Comparison of Leontief Input-Output Coefficients and its Application to Structural Growth Patterns

Empirical sectoral analyses of a standard development pattern have focused upon changes in the value added, disregarding the structural changes in intermediate input. In a more comprehensive approach to the production function, the present paper analyses both sectoral intermediate inputs and the value added by using 45 input-output tables to discover a standard pattern of the changes in the input-output coefficients as an economy develops. The major findings are first a U-shape pattern of the average value added ratio and, conversely, an inverse U-shape pattern of the average intermediate input ratio. Secondly, as compared with principal input coefficients that are broadly stable, supplementary input coefficients exhibit the non-linear trends of an inverse U shape contributed by a rising trend in agriculture in the early stages, and a growing energy cost in most sectors, although this is partly offset by mild U shapes of transport and distribution costs. A similar inverse U-shape pattern is implied for the Leontief multiplier.     

Hedging role of stablecoins

Wild price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies make it difficult for investors to maintain stable asset values. This study investigates the hedging properties of US dollar (USD)-pegged stablecoins against bitcoin returns. We analyzed the hedging abilities of the three largest stablecoins—namely, Tether, USD Coin, and Binance USD—using the dynamic conditional correlation–generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity, dummy variable regression, vector autoregression, and impulse response functions. We found that stablecoins are generally negatively correlated with bitcoin returns, indicating that they can be effective hedging instruments against high-volatility crypto assets. Among the stablecoins, Binance USD offers the largest risk reduction, and Tether was a weak safe haven during the COVID-19 crisis period. Crypto investors can diversify their portfolios by holding stablecoins.