The puzzling politics of R&D: signalling competence through risky projects

• In Event: JSS 10
  In JSS Session: New Faces in Political Experiments

Brief Overview

Using an experiment in USA and Russia and cross-country evidence, I show that Investing in R&D improves the incumbent's perceived competence among voters, which is consistent with the hypothesis that pro-R&D policy choice is a signalling device.

Author

• Natalia Lamberova, University of California-Los Angeles