Economic growth and R&D expenditures in selected OECD countries: Is there any convergence?

The economic growth of nations is strongly associated with rising R&D expenditures. The present study therefore endeavours to examine the stylized patterns of evolution of R&D expenditures (R&D expenditures as a share of GDP) along the development course in 18 OECD countries for the period 1981–2012. Empirical findings of feasible generalized least square model highlight that as economic growth proceeds, R&D as a share of GDP also shows a rise in OECD nations. The study also analyzes the long-term growth trends and structure of research and development (R&D) expenditures in OECD nations for the period 1981–2012. Further, the study analyzes another important issue, namely whether OECD economies are converging/diverging in their R&D activities over the course of time. To this end, σ-convergence has been applied to examine this issue. Findings of σ-convergence highlight declining coefficient of variation (convergence) in R&D intensities as well as R&D expenditure in OECD countries for 1981–2012.