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R&D and financial systems: the determinants of R&D expenditures in the Swedish pharmaceutical industry

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Author

  • Claes Malmberg

Summary, in English

This study investigates the determinants of R&D expenditures in the Swedish pharmaceutical industry from the 1960s to the mid 1990s. Various proxies for the rate of return of R&D (e.g. expected profit, sales and R&D productivity) as well as the availability of internal funding (proxied by past cash flows) have been used as explanatory variables in time series regressions. Past cash flow comes out as significant in regressions both at industry level and at firm level (made for each of the two largest companies). Another factor that is significant in most cases is expected sales. However, productivity of the R&D process does not seem to influence R&D expenditures. A comparison of these conclusions with studies of the pharmaceutical industries in countries with different financial systems; the US (with a market based financial system) and Japan (with a more bank based financial system) shows that Sweden (also leaning towards a bank based financial system) has the insensitivity to R&D productivity in common with Japan. This may be interpreted as these industries’ are taking a ‘longer term view’ on their research than the US’. The sensitivity to cash flow, however, is possibly more pronounced in Sweden than in Japan and suggests an important role of internal financing of R&D.

Publishing year

2008

Language

English

Publication/Series

DRUID 25th Celebration Conference 2008 Proceedings

Document type

Conference paper

Publisher

DRUID Denmark

Topic

  • Economic History
  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Keywords

  • Economic Development
  • Technological Change
  • Technological Growth
  • Innovation and Invention
  • Processes and Incentives
  • Government Policy
  • Economic History
  • Agriculture
  • Natural Resources

Conference name

DRUID 25th Celebration Conference, 2008

Conference date

2008-06-18 - 2008-06-20

Conference place

Copenhagen, Denmark

Status

Published