Data and Code for: Moonshot: Public R&D and Growth

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Shawn Kantor, Florida State University; Alexander Whalley, University of Calgary

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  data 03/26/2025 10:25:AM
  programs 04/11/2025 10:23:AM
AER Replication.Rproj text/plain 218 bytes 04/11/2025 06:23:AM
README-final 07 21 2025.docx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document 52.9 KB 07/21/2025 10:58:AM
README-final 07 21 2025.pdf application/pdf 649.3 KB 07/21/2025 10:57:AM
master_R_scripts.R text/x-rsrc 909 bytes 04/10/2025 03:03:PM
master_all.do text/plain 5.7 KB 04/15/2025 11:02:AM

Project Citation: 

Kantor, Shawn, and Whalley, Alexander. Data and Code for:  Moonshot: Public R&D and Growth. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2025. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-07-31. https://doi.org/10.3886/E199083V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary We estimate the long-term effect of public R&D on growth in manufacturing by analyzing new data from the Cold War era Space Race. We develop a novel empirical strategy that leverages US-Soviet rivalry in space technology to isolate windfall R&D spending. Our results demonstrate that public R&D conducted by NASA contractors increased manufacturing value added, employment, and capital accumulation in space related sectors. While migration responses were important, they were not sufficient to generate a wedge between local and national effects. The iconic Moonshot R&D program had only modest economic effects for both the local and national space-related sectors.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Innovation; ; economic growth; government programs
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      H54 National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures; Other Public Investment and Capital Stock
      N12 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
      O32 Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
      R11 Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage usa
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1947 – 1992
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 2014 – 2023
Universe:  View help for Universe Manufacturing census, industry-county level;
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) census/enumeration data; geographic information system (GIS) data; observational data

Methodology

Data Source:  View help for Data Source US manufacturing Census, County-Industry Level
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation County-Industry
Geographic Unit:  View help for Geographic Unit County

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Published Versions

V1 [2025-07-31]

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DDI 2.5

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