Innovation and Performance: The Impact of Investments in R&D According to the Different Levels of Productivity of Firms

The objective of this paper is to verify how investments in R&D influence the measures of performance (sales and operating profit) of companies. Based on the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, a 2003–2013 information panel was developed for 548 companies. Regression with panel data and Quantile Regression were used. The results indicate that investments in R&D positively influence sales and operating profit of companies as a whole, varies according to the R&D intensity when companies are analyzed in groups and that the distance from the frontier influences the relationship between R&D and performance. The companies of the upper quantiles have better relation R&D and profit than the companies more distant from the frontier. Companies with higher profit can transform R&D investments more efficiently into profit.