Basic Research and Growth
In this project, we examine the role of (public) basic research on long-run economic growth with the aim to derive optimal policies. The main research questions are:
- What is a country's optimal amount of public basic research expenditure in a globalized world?
- What is the optimal mix of basic research and applied research?
- What is the optimal fincancing scheme for basic research?
- Should basic research efforts be concentrated on certain economic sectors?
- Should a country that is highly exposed to competition with productivity leaders invest more in basic research than a country that is less exposed?
- Should a country that is close to the technological frontier invest more in basic research than a country that is lagging behind in productivity?
- Should a country concentrate its research resources on sectors exposed to foreign competition?
- Is a concentration of basic research on technologically advanced sectors optimal?
- Should democratic procedures, expert groups, or bureaucratic procedures using macro-indicators, determine the amount and mix of basic research?
- Who should be taxed how much to finance public basic research? Entrepreneurs? Workers? In what proportion?
- Can our theoretical analysis explain present basic research investment patterns?
Publication
- Economic Rationales for Investments in Science, Economic lnquiry, forthcoming.
(Hans Gersbach, Ulrich Schetter, and Maik T. Schneider).
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- Taxation, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, Economic Journal, 129(620), 2019, 1731-1781.
(Hans Gersbach, Maik Schneider and Ulrich Schetter).
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- Hierarchical Growth: Basic and Applied Research, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 90, 2018, 434-459.
(Hans Gersbach, Gerhard Sorger and Christian Amon)
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- On the Global Supply of Basic Research, Journal of Monetary Economics, 75(C), 2015, 123-137.
(Hans Gersbach and Maik T. Schneider)
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- Basic Research, Openness and Convergence, Journal of Economic Growth, 18(1), 2013, 33-68.
(Hans Gersbach, Maik T. Schneider and Olivier Schneller )
Download Working Paper Version (PDF, 1.3 MB) - Vote-buying and Growth, Macroeconomic Dynamics, 15(5), 2011, 656-680.
(Hans Gersbach and Felix Mühe)
Download Working Paper Version - Land Reforms and Economic Development, Macroeconomic Dynamics, 14(4), 2010, 527-547.
(Hans Gersbach and Lars Siemers)
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- Basic Research and Growth Policy, in D. Foray (ed.): The New Economics of Technology Policy, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, 2009.
(Hans Gersbach) - Handbook of Economic Growth 1, Volumes A and B, Philippe Aghion and Steven N. Durlauf, editors, Journal of Development Economics 90, 2009, 323-325.
(Hans Gersbach and Volker Hahn)
Working Papers
- Download Research Bubbles
(Hans Gersbach and Evgenij Komarov) - external page From Local to Global: A Unified Theory of Basic Research
(Hans Gersbach, Ulrich Schetter, and Samuel Schmassmann)
- Download Skills, Tasks, and Complexity
(Hans Gersbach and Samuel Schmassmann)
Team Members
Cooperation Partners
- external page Ulrich Schetter (Harvard University)
- external page Maik T. Schneider (University of Bath)