Moonshot: Public R&D and Growth
利用冷战太空竞赛中美国与苏联的竞争，识别公共研发的意外支出，估计其对制造业增长的长期影响，发现NASA承包商的公共研发提升了太空相关部门的增加值、就业和资本积累，但登月计划的经济效应有限。
We estimate the long-term effect of public R&D on growth in manufacturing by analyzing new data from the Cold War–era space race. We develop a novel empirical strategy that leverages US-Soviet rivalry in space technology to isolate windfall R&D spending. Our results demonstrate that public R&D conducted by NASA contractors increased manufacturing value added, employment, and capital accumulation in space-related sectors. While migration responses were important, they were not sufficient to generate a wedge between local and national effects. The iconic moonshot R&D program had only modest economic effects for both the local and national space-related sectors.