The analysis of allocation efficiency of R&D resource and its determinants — An empirical study of panel data from 31 countries

Abstract

The paper employs Stochastic Frontier Approach to analyze the allocation efficiency of R&D resources in 31 countries by Frontier 4.1 software. It reveals that U.S.A, Japan, Germany and Britain are the big power of R&D input and output, yet their R&D efficiency is not so high; Switzland, Sweden, South Korea, Canada and Australian have the highest R&D efficiency, and the R&D efficiency of China, India, Brazil and South Africa are relatively high. With the global R&D activities transferring to the region of lower cost and high efficiency, R&D Emerging Economies are arising. According to output elasticity of R&D resources, human labor is much stronger than that of funds. Furthermore, the output elasticity of human labor in high-income countries is stronger than that of middle-income countries, but the output elasticity of funds in high-income countries is weaker than that of middle-income countries.