Effects of financial constraints on research and development investment: an empirical investigation

This paper investigates the behaviour of research and development (R&D) investment. How sensitive is R&D investmentto available cash flow for financially constrained and unconstrained firms? One important distinction between R&D investment and investment in physical capital is that the result of R&D investment can not serve as collateral, as it may be impossible to put a lien on R&D capital. Given that characteristic, one would expect R&D investment to be sensitive to cash flow, especially for financially constrained firms. Using Hall's Manufacturing Sector Master File, we show that R&D investment is more sensitive to internal finance for financially constrained firms than for financially unconstrained firms in the US manufacturing sector.