R&D and Absorptive Capacity: Theory and Empirical Evidence*
构建统一框架，整合熊彼特内生增长理论与研发、生产率增长及收敛的实证研究，发现研发同时促进创新和吸收他人成果，忽视吸收能力会低估研发的社会回报率。
Abstract This paper presents a single unified framework that integrates the theoretical literature on Schumpeterian endogenous growth and major strands of the empirical literature on R&D, productivity growth and productivity convergence. Starting from a structural model of endogenous growth following Aghion and Howitt (1992, 1998) , we provide microeconomic foundations for the reduced‐form equations for total factor productivity (TFP) growth frequently estimated empirically using industry‐level data. R&D affects both innovation and the assimilation of others’ discoveries (“absorptive capacity”). Long‐run cross‐country differences in productivity emerge endogenously, and the analysis implies that many existing studies underestimate R&D's social rate of return by neglecting absorptive capacity.