Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South Africa

The paper explores the patterns of business investment in research and development (R&D) using evidence from companies in South Africa, in comparison with indicators for a number of other countries. This study covers the period 2006–2016, the studied companies were grouped by the amount of R&am...

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Main Authors: Neo Molotja, Saahier Parker, Precious Mudavanhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: National Research University Higher School of Economics 2019-09-01
Series:Foresight and STI Governance
Subjects:
Online Access:https://foresight-journal.hse.ru/article/view/19183
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author Neo Molotja
Saahier Parker
Precious Mudavanhu
author_facet Neo Molotja
Saahier Parker
Precious Mudavanhu
author_sort Neo Molotja
collection DOAJ
description The paper explores the patterns of business investment in research and development (R&D) using evidence from companies in South Africa, in comparison with indicators for a number of other countries. This study covers the period 2006–2016, the studied companies were grouped by the amount of R&D expenditures (BERD), the number of reports on research performance for the first and last years of monitoring. A typical characteristic of private sector R&D activities is the uneven distribution of resources in space and time. The major financial and other assets are concentrated within few large companies from a limited number of industries, while the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises invest in R&D projects only sporadically, for a period of no more than two consequential years. Firms that perform R&D for longer periods invest in R&D incrementally and remain more persistent than enterprises performing less R&D for shorter time periods. In view of the common nature of a number of patterns, these observations suggest different approaches to policies supporting R&D performance in the business sector not only in South Africa, but also in other countries.
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spelling doaj-art-187d879ad7bc40fb86bc5e45c9fee53c2025-08-20T03:50:16ZengNational Research University Higher School of EconomicsForesight and STI Governance2500-25972019-09-0113310.17323/2500-2597.2019.3.51.60Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South AfricaNeo Molotja0Saahier Parker1Precious Mudavanhu2Human Sciences Research Council, 116-118 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town, 8001, South ArficaHuman Sciences Research Council , 116-118 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town, 8001, South AfricaHuman Sciences Research Council , 116-118 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town, 8001, South Arfica The paper explores the patterns of business investment in research and development (R&D) using evidence from companies in South Africa, in comparison with indicators for a number of other countries. This study covers the period 2006–2016, the studied companies were grouped by the amount of R&D expenditures (BERD), the number of reports on research performance for the first and last years of monitoring. A typical characteristic of private sector R&D activities is the uneven distribution of resources in space and time. The major financial and other assets are concentrated within few large companies from a limited number of industries, while the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises invest in R&D projects only sporadically, for a period of no more than two consequential years. Firms that perform R&D for longer periods invest in R&D incrementally and remain more persistent than enterprises performing less R&D for shorter time periods. In view of the common nature of a number of patterns, these observations suggest different approaches to policies supporting R&D performance in the business sector not only in South Africa, but also in other countries. https://foresight-journal.hse.ru/article/view/19183South AfricaR&D performanceBERDconcentrationpersistencevolatility
spellingShingle Neo Molotja
Saahier Parker
Precious Mudavanhu
Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South Africa
Foresight and STI Governance
South Africa
R&D performance
BERD
concentration
persistence
volatility
title Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South Africa
title_full Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South Africa
title_fullStr Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South Africa
title_short Patterns of Investing into Business R&D in South Africa
title_sort patterns of investing into business r d in south africa
topic South Africa
R&D performance
BERD
concentration
persistence
volatility
url https://foresight-journal.hse.ru/article/view/19183
work_keys_str_mv AT neomolotja patternsofinvestingintobusinessrdinsouthafrica
AT saahierparker patternsofinvestingintobusinessrdinsouthafrica
AT preciousmudavanhu patternsofinvestingintobusinessrdinsouthafrica