Impact of Technology Assimilation on Investment Policy: Dynamic Optimization and Econometric Identification

The paper introduces a dynamic model of optimization of R&D intensity under the effect of technology assimilation. The model involves R&D investments, technology stock, production, and technology productivity as main variables. The model characterizes the “growth” and “decline” trends that describe the interaction between R&D investments and transformation process of production factors. The technology stock is constructed as a function of indigenous and exogenous technology stocks and their growth rates. The research focuses on the issue of a reasonable balance between the indigenous technology stock and assimilated technology flow. Econometric linearization of the technology assimilation effect is used to construct a reasonable optimal control model. The existence of the value function for the problem of the optimal economic growth on the infinite horizon is proved and the basic features of the value function are outlined. The property of strong invariance for the main proportions of the model such as technology productivity and R&D intensity is proved. The model is calibrated on the aggregate data of the Japanese automotive industry. The research was sponsored by the SIMOT Program of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The second author was supported by the Russian Fund for Basic Research, Grants 05-01-00601, 05-01-08034, by the Russian Fund for Humanities, Grant RFH 05-02-02118a, and by the Program for the Sponsorship of Leading Scientific Schools, Grant NSCH-791.2003.1.