The effect of institutions on R&D investment: the case of four mediterranean euro area states
Journal of Applied Accounting Research
ISSN: 0967-5426
Article publication date: 16 May 2022
Issue publication date: 5 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the impact of institutional factors on firms investing in R&D.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys for the Republic of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Portugal. A model with institutional factors as explanatory variables and firm performance factors as control variables is estimated with weighted least squares heteroscedasticity corrected regression. The reverse causality problem is addressed by using a two-stage least squares regression approach.
Findings
The findings indicate that institutional quality has a significant influence on firms' R&D expenditure. The results have several implications in relation to findings of previous research.
Research limitations/implications
The inclusion of more countries that were affected by the European economic crisis will probably give more insights about the effect of institutional factors on R&D.
Practical implications
Policy makers have to address short-comings in institutional quality, particularly in terms of the labor regulation burden. Policy makers should prioritize anti-corruption measures to foster an environment that would attract more R&D in the Republic of Cyprus and Greece.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the growing body of literature investigating the impact of institutional factors on R&D. It focuses on four developed European countries that bore the brunt of the European economic crisis and have to implement their recovery and resilience plans successfully, in order to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their economic activity.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the Enterprise Analysis Unit of the Development Economics Global Indicators Department of the World Bank Group for making the data available and the reviewers for their thoughtful comments and efforts towards improving the manuscript.
Citation
Vlachos, V. (2022), "The effect of institutions on R&D investment: the case of four mediterranean euro area states", Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 788-805. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAAR-07-2021-0191
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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