Covid-19 Crisis and the Expected Effects on R&D in Businesses

The measures to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus have brought large parts of the global economy to a standstill. This is likely to push Germany and many other countries into a deep recession in 2020. The economic downturn will most likely also reduce the willingness of companies to invest in research and development (R&D) in order to make long-term investments for the future and introduce new products and services to the market. This policy brief summarises the lessons learned from past recessions and addresses the question of how these experiences can be used to understand the current coronavirus crisis. It also sheds light on the particularities of the coronavirus crisis and suggests possible innovation policy measures.

Dachs, Bernhard and Bettina Peters (2020), Covid-19 Crisis and the Expected Effects on R&D in Businesses, ZEW policy brief No. 20-02, Mannheim