Directed innovation policies and the supermultiplier: An empirical assessment of mission-oriented policies in the US economy

This paper investigates the determinants of economic growth from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. The paper combines the supermultiplier model of growth with the Neo-Schumpeterian framework that emphasises the entrepreneurial role of the state. We aim to detect the macroeconomic effect generated by alternative fiscal policies: generic ones and more directed ‘mission-oriented’ ones. Using an SVAR model for the US economy for the 1947–2018 period, we show that mission-oriented policies produce a larger positive effect on GDP (fiscal multiplier) and on private investment in R&D (crowd-in effect) than the one generated by more generic public expenditures.