How much value does a dollar of R&D create? This is a really hard question to answer, but a 2021 paper by Benjamin Jones and Larry Summers describes a thought experiment that suggests the answer is "very high!" In this podcast, I walk through the thought experiment.
This podcast is an audio version of (the initial version of) the article "What are the Returns to R&D?" published on New Things Under the Sun.
Articles mentioned:
Jones, Benjamin F., and Lawrence H. Summers. 2021. A Calculation of the Social Rate of Return to Innovation. NBER Working Paper 27863. https://doi.org/10.3386/w27863
Henrich, Joseph. 2015. The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter. Princeton University Press.