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The intensity of business R&D in Italy: why reducing the gap with the EU is possible and worthwhile

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  • Alessandro Sterlacchini

    (Università Politecnica delle Marche)

Abstract

This note examines the level, trend and size distribution of the R&D expenditures by Italian firms. Comparisons with the performance of the major EU countries indicate that the Italian backwardness in terms of business R&D is mainly due to a declining contribution of the largest firms. Only thanks to an increasing number of SMEs performing R&D and the investments of a group of not too large companies, the Italian performance has not deteriorated over the last years. This suggests that, by means of well-designed and adequately funded policy measures, the goal of reducing the R&D gap with the EU is still possible.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Sterlacchini, 2017. "The intensity of business R&D in Italy: why reducing the gap with the EU is possible and worthwhile," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 44(2), pages 245-257, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolin:v:44:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s40812-016-0068-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s40812-016-0068-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alessandro Sterlacchini, 2007. "Il declino della R&S nelle imprese europee dei servizi di pubblica utilit?," ECONOMIA E POLITICA INDUSTRIALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2007(1), pages 161-169.
    2. Philippe Aghion & Philippe Askenazy & Nicolas Berman & Gilbert Cette & Laurent Eymard, 2012. "Credit Constraints And The Cyclicality Of R&D Investment: Evidence From France," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(5), pages 1001-1024, October.
    3. Leopoldo Nascia & Mario Pianta & Giovanni La Placa, 2016. "RIO Country Report 2015: Italy," JRC Research Reports JRC101197, Joint Research Centre.
    4. Philippe Mustar, 2016. "Industrial policy in France: in search of lost time," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 43(3), pages 305-313, September.
    5. Claudia Cantabene & Leopoldo Nascia, 2014. "The race for R&D subsidies: evaluating the effectiveness of tax credits in Italy," ECONOMIA E POLITICA INDUSTRIALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(3), pages 133-158.
    6. Brautzsch, Hans-Ulrich & Günther, Jutta & Loose, Brigitte & Ludwig, Udo & Nulsch, Nicole, 2015. "Can R&D subsidies counteract the economic crisis? – Macroeconomic effects in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 623-633.
    7. Alessandro Sterlacchini & Francesco Venturini, 2014. "R&D and Productivity in High-Tech Manufacturing: A Comparison between Italy and Spain," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 359-379, July.
    8. Annalisa Caloffi & Marco Mariani & Alessandro Sterlacchini, 2016. "Evaluating Public Supports To The Investment Activities Of Business Firms: A Meta-Regression Analysis Of Italian Studies," Working Papers 0116, CREI Università degli Studi Roma Tre, revised 2016.
    9. Reinhilde Veugelers, 2014. "Undercutting the future? European research spending in times of fiscal consolidation," Policy Contributions 829, Bruegel.
    10. Alessandro Sterlacchini & Francesco Venturini, 2013. "Boosting Manufacturing Productivity Through R&D: International Comparisons with Special Focus on Italy," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 187-208, June.
    11. Aghion, P. & Askenazy, P. & Berman, N. & Cette, G. & Eymard, L., 2008. "Credit Constraints and the Cyclicality of R&D Investment: Evidence from France," Working papers 198, Banque de France.
    12. Matteo Lucchese & Leopoldo Nascia & Mario Pianta, 2016. "Industrial policy and technology in Italy," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 43(3), pages 233-260, September.
    13. Bronwyn H. Hall & Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello & Sandro Montresor & Antonio Vezzani, 2016. "Financing constraints, R&D investments and innovative performances: new empirical evidence at the firm level for Europe," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 183-196, April.
    14. Pellens, Maikel & Peters, Bettina & Hud, Martin & Rammer, Christian & Licht, Georg, 2018. "Public investment in R&D in reaction to economic crises: A longitudinal study for OECD countries," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-005, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    15. Claudio Cozza & Antonello Zanfei, 2014. "The cross border R&D activity of italian business firms," ECONOMIA E POLITICA INDUSTRIALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(3), pages 39-64.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business Research & Development (R&D); Italy; EU countries; R&D policies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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