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A comparative evaluation of regional subsidies for collaborative and individual R&D in small and medium-sized enterprises

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  • Caloffi, Annalisa
  • Mariani, Marco
  • Rossi, Federica
  • Russo, Margherita

Abstract

We analyse whether public subsidies supporting collaborative research and development (R&D) projects in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are able to encourage persistent R&D investment and interorganisational networking more than subsidies supporting individual R&D projects. Adopting a counterfactual approach to policy evaluation, we compare subsidies for collaborative R&D and for individual R&D implemented in the same Italian region in the same period. Our findings suggest that, once public support is no longer available, the two subsidies have different effects on different types of SMEs. If the policymakers’ objective is to increase the number of R&D-performing SMEs over time, they should provide subsidies for collaborative R&D to firms with modest R&D experience. If their objective is to increase the amount of spontaneous R&D investment over time, they should target SMEs with some prior R&D experience, using either subsidy. Finally, if their objective is to induce SMEs to network with external organisations, subsidies for collaborative R&D projects should be preferred to subsidies for individual R&D projects.

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  • Caloffi, Annalisa & Mariani, Marco & Rossi, Federica & Russo, Margherita, 2018. "A comparative evaluation of regional subsidies for collaborative and individual R&D in small and medium-sized enterprises," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1437-1447.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:47:y:2018:i:8:p:1437-1447
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2018.04.022
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    2. Kiman Kim & Sang Ok Choi & Sooyeon Lee, 2021. "The Effect of a Financial Support on Firm Innovation Collaboration and Output: Does Policy Work on the Diverse Nature of Firm Innovation?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 645-675, June.
    3. Aleksandar Giga & Alexandra Graddy-Reed & Andrea Belz & Richard J. Terrile & Fernando Zapatero, 2022. "Helping the Little Guy: the impact of government awards on small technology firms," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 846-871, June.
    4. Muhammad Nouman & Mohammad Sohail Yunis & Muhammad Atiq & Owais Mufti & Abdul Qadus, 2022. "‘The Forgotten Sector’: An Integrative Framework for Future Research on Low- and Medium-Technology Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Jun, Seung-Pyo & Yoo, Hyoung Sun & Hwang, Jeena, 2021. "A hybrid recommendation model for successful R&D collaboration: Mixing machine learning and discriminant analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Margherita Russo & Pasquale Pavone, 2019. "What innovation policy mix does matter for which countries? Patterns emerging from multidimensional analysis on STIP Compass platform," Department of Economics 0159, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    7. Haschka, Rouven E. & Herwartz, Helmut, 2020. "Innovation efficiency in European high-tech industries: Evidence from a Bayesian stochastic frontier approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(8).
    8. Konan Alain N'Ghauran & Corinne Autant-Bernard, 2020. "Assessing the collaboration and network additionality of innovation policies: a counterfactual approach to the French cluster policy," Post-Print halshs-03128972, HAL.
    9. Jugend, Daniel & Fiorini, Paula De Camargo & Armellini, Fabiano & Ferrari, Aline Gabriela, 2020. "Public support for innovation: A systematic review of the literature and implications for open innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
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    12. Enrique Acebo & José-Ángel Miguel-Dávila & Mariano Nieto, 2021. "The Impact of University–Industry Relationships on Firms’ Performance: A Meta-Regression Analysis," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(2), pages 276-293.
    13. Mingfeng Tang & Peng Xu & Patrick Llerena & Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi, 2019. "The Impact of the Openness of Firms’ External Search Strategies on Exploratory Innovation and Exploitative Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-20, September.
    14. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Belso-Martinez, Jose Antonio & Díez-Vial, Isabel, 2021. "Playing the innovation subsidy game: experience, clusters, consultancy, and networking in regional innovation support," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 111603, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Hyoung Sun Yoo & Chul Lee & Seung-Pyo Jun, 2018. "The Characteristics of SMEs Preferring Cooperative Research and Development Support from the Government: The Case of Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public subsidies; SMEs; Collaborative R&D projects; Individual R&D projects; Programme evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation

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