Many firms reform their R&D investments decisions to cope with sudden

changes in the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis. Our study investigates

the firm’s growth option value of R&D investment in the aftermath of the crisis with

consideration of the moderating effect of organizational forms. Using a panel sample

of US firms in the period 2003 – 2013, our findings show that R&D investment has a

positive impact on the firm’s growth option value in the aftermath of the crisis. Our

results also illustrate that the firm’s growth option value of R&D investment is greater

for M-form firms than for U-form firms in the unstable period.