Mark J. Roberts

Mark J. Roberts is a Professor of Economics at Pennsylvania State University and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His work focuses on productivity analysis, industrial organization, and international trade, particularly examining how export market exposure influences firm R&D investment and structural modeling of firm dynamics in oligopolistic markets.

• Key affiliations: Penn State University, NBER, Penn State Census Bureau Research Data Center

His research investigates the causal relationships between exporting activities and R&D investment, showing that exporters experience higher returns on innovation and productivity growth. He has developed structural models to quantify how trade barriers like tariffs reduce long-term R&D payoff for firms in high-tech German manufacturing sectors.

Recent methodological contributions include counterfactual simulations using dynamic panel data to analyze institutional determinants of R&D investment in emerging economies. The work highlights corruption, regulatory quality, and political stability as critical factors affecting innovation incentives.