Counter-cyclical investing

COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT in research and new venture development has slowed due to the recession. But the downturn has not altered the "headroom" for innovation in fields such as information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, materials science and clean energy, according to business trends analysts Eric Beinhocker and Elizabeth Stephenson, writing in the Harvard Business Review. Accordingly, companies in these sectors will continue with their search for innovation, even if the full commercialisation of discoveries lags for some time.

"Research shows companies investing counter-cyclically in research and development during downturns tend to outpace their competitors on the upswing," say Beinhocker and Stephenson. "Note, for example, that Apple's resurgence as a force in consumer technology was fuelled by R&D conducted from 2001 to 2003, despite a sharp decline in sales and margins.