On the long-run relationship between R&D expenditures and GDP: some considerations for the case of Italy (1963-2013)

This paper analyses empirically the long-run relationship between ‘pure’ public expenditures on Research and Development and GDP for the case of Italy (1963-2013). The results show that a 1% increase in ‘pure’ public research and development expenditure increases output by 0.1%. This shows that, as the consensus in the literature indicates, this type of expenditure has a persistent effect on GDP and calls for a review of the austerity policies that have been pursued in Italy on this type of expenditures since 1991.