Soft budget constraint and the optimal choices of research and development projects financing

Through analyzing the softness and hardness of budgeting constraints in research and development (R&D) investment under different institutions, we develop a theory of optimal R&D financing. Our theory not only provides a clear comparison of investment efficiency between centralized economies and market economies but also extends the analysis of soft budget constraint to firms in market economy. Based on this theory, we characterize optimal choices of R&D project financing in centralized and decentralized economies. Our results explain why some projects are financed internally by a large firm but others are cofinanced externally by several firms. We also explain what makes a centralized economy inefficient in R&D. (C) 1998 Academic Press.