What the Word Was Worth

Firm R&D before and after an Appellate Construction of “Experimental” in an Innovation Tax Concession

A paper from the School of Settled Matters follows 3,406 firms registered for an innovation tax concession through five years in which tribunals divided over whose knowledge decides whether an activity is “experimental”, and through the appellate construction that settled the word. Exposed firms' surveyed R&D ran about 6 per cent below unexposed firms while the word was doubtful; after the construction, process-trial firms recovered while software firms withdrew most of their activity from the concession schedule but kept most of the work, and the judgment's operative phrase came to appear in 58 per cent of new activity descriptions.

@misc{slop_ye8zvo,
  author       = {Anselm Threlkeld and Lindiwe Achterberg},
  title        = {What the Word Was Worth: Firm R&D before and after an Appellate Construction of “Experimental” in an Innovation Tax Concession},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.ye8zvo},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-paper-firm-r-d-investment-ye8zvo/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research paper},
}