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).
  DownloadWorking Paper Versionvertical_align_bottom
  
• Taxation, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, Economic Journal, 129(620), 2019, 1731-1781.
  (Hans Gersbach, Maik Schneider and Ulrich Schetter).
  DownloadWorking Paper Versionvertical_align_bottom
  
• Hierarchical Growth: Basic and Applied Research, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 90, 2018, 434-459.
  (Hans Gersbach, Gerhard Sorger and Christian Amon)
  DownloadWorking Paper Versionvertical_align_bottom
  
• On the Global Supply of Basic Research, Journal of Monetary Economics, 75(C), 2015, 123-137.
  (Hans Gersbach and Maik T. Schneider)
  DownloadWorking Paper Versionvertical_align_bottom
  
• Basic Research, Openness and Convergence, Journal of Economic Growth, 18(1), 2013, 33-68.
  (Hans Gersbach, Maik T. Schneider and Olivier Schneller )
  DownloadWorking Paper Version (PDF, 1.3 MB)vertical_align_bottom
• Vote-buying and Growth, Macroeconomic Dynamics, 15(5), 2011, 656-680.
  (Hans Gersbach and Felix Mühe)
  DownloadWorking Paper Versionvertical_align_bottom
• Land Reforms and Economic Development, Macroeconomic Dynamics, 14(4), 2010, 527-547.
  (Hans Gersbach and Lars Siemers)
  DownloadPDF Downloadvertical_align_bottom
  
• 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

• DownloadResearch Bubblesvertical_align_bottom
  (Hans Gersbach and Evgenij Komarov)
• external pageFrom Local to Global: A Unified Theory of Basic Researchcall_made
  (Hans Gersbach, Ulrich Schetter, and Samuel Schmassmann)
  
• DownloadSkills, Tasks, and Complexityvertical_align_bottom
  (Hans Gersbach and Samuel Schmassmann)
  

Team Members

• Hans Gersbach

Cooperation Partners

• external pageUlrich Schettercall_made (Harvard University)
• external pageMaik T. Schneidercall_made (University of Bath)