Companies get more ideas from R&D. Their growth still slows.

Economists thought companies were getting fewer ideas from their research spending. It turns out companies are getting more ideas, but overall growth is still slowing down.

For years, many economists and business leaders assumed that slow productivity growth meant companies were running out of good ideas. This paper shows that companies are actually getting more patents per research dollar than ever. It means the problem isn't a lack of innovation, but something else that keeps overall growth low.