IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/44y2012i12p1527-1538.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How effective are level-based R&D tax credits? Evidence from the Netherlands

Author

Listed:
  • Boris Lokshin
  • Pierre Mohnen

Abstract

This article examines the impact of the R&D fiscal incentive programme on R&D by Dutch firms. Taking a factor demand approach, we measure the elasticity of firm R&D capital accumulation to its user cost. Econometric models are estimated using a rich unbalanced panel of firm data covering the period 1996 to 2004 with firm specific R&D user costs varying with tax incentives. Using the estimated user cost elasticity, we perform a cost--benefit analysis of the R&D incentive programme. We find some evidence of additionality suggesting that the level based programme of R&D incentives in the Netherlands is effective in stimulating firms’ investment in R&D. However, the hypothesis of crowding out can be rejected only for small firms. The analysis also indicates that the level based nature of the fiscal incentive scheme leads to a substantial social deadweight loss.

Suggested Citation

  • Boris Lokshin & Pierre Mohnen, 2012. "How effective are level-based R&D tax credits? Evidence from the Netherlands," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(12), pages 1527-1538, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:44:y:2012:i:12:p:1527-1538
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2010.543083
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00036846.2010.543083
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036846.2010.543083?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Falk, 2006. "What drives business Research and Development (R&D) intensity across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 533-547.
    2. Daniel J. Wilson, 2009. "Beggar Thy Neighbor? The In-State, Out-of-State, and Aggregate Effects of R&D Tax Credits," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(2), pages 431-436, May.
    3. Nadiri, M Ishaq & Rosen, Sherwin, 1969. "Interrelated Factor Demand Functions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(4), pages 457-471, Part I Se.
    4. Mamuneas, Theofanis P. & Ishaq Nadiri, M., 1996. "Public R&D policies and cost behavior of the US manufacturing industries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 57-81, December.
    5. Klette, Tor Jakob & Griliches, Zvi, 1996. "The Inconsistency of Common Scale Estimators When Output Prices Are Unobserved and Endogenous," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(4), pages 343-361, July-Aug..
    6. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Hanel, Petr & Rosa, Julio Miguel, 2011. "Evaluating the impact of R&D tax credits on innovation: A microeconometric study on Canadian firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 217-229, March.
    7. Boris Lokshin & Pierre Mohnen, 2012. "How effective are level-based R&D tax credits? Evidence from the Netherlands," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(12), pages 1527-1538, April.
    8. Hall, Bronwyn H., 1992. "Investment and Research and Development at the Firm Level: Does the Source of Financing Matter?," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt5j59j6x3, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    9. repec:adr:anecst:y:1998:i:49-50:p:16 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Emmanuel Duguet, 2008. "L’effet du credit d’impôt recherche sur le financement privé de la recherche : une évaluation économétrique," Documents de recherche 08-08, Centre d'Études des Politiques Économiques (EPEE), Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne.
    11. repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:0:p:631-52 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Benjamin Russo, 2004. "A cost-benefit analysis of R&D tax incentives," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(2), pages 313-335, May.
    13. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    14. Jacques Mairesse & Benoît Mulkay, 2004. "Une evaluation du credit d’impot recherche en France, 1980-1997," Working Papers 2004-43, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    15. Bronwyn H. Hall, 1993. "R&D Tax Policy during the 1980s: Success or Failure?," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 7, pages 1-36, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Florence Jaumotte & Nigel Pain, 2005. "From Ideas to Development: The Determinants of R&D and Patenting," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 457, OECD Publishing.
    17. Cragg, John G. & Donald, Stephen G., 1993. "Testing Identifiability and Specification in Instrumental Variable Models," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 222-240, April.
    18. Dagenais, Marcel & Mohnen, Pierre & Therrien, Pierre, 2004. "Les firmes canadiennes répondent-elles aux incitations fiscales à la recherche-développement?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 80(2), pages 175-205, Juin-Sept.
    19. Adrian R Pagan & Anthony D Hall, 1983. "Diagnostic tests as residual analysis," Published Paper Series 1983-1, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.
    20. George Van Leeuwen & Luuk Klomp, 2006. "On the contribution of innovation to multi-factor productivity growth," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4-5), pages 367-390.
    21. Dietmar Harhoff, 1998. "Are there Financing Constraints for R&D and Investment in German Manufacturing Firms," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 49-50, pages 421-456.
    22. Corchuelo, Beatriz, 2009. "The Effects of Fiscal Incentives for R & D in Spain," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb092302, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    23. Ariel Pakes & Mark Schankerman, 1984. "The Rate of Obsolescence of Patents, Research Gestation Lags, and the Private Rate of Return to Research Resources," NBER Chapters, in: R&D, Patents, and Productivity, pages 73-88, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Hall, Bronwyn & Van Reenen, John, 2000. "How effective are fiscal incentives for R&D? A review of the evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 449-469, April.
    25. Bloom, Nick & Griffith, Rachel & Van Reenen, John, 2002. "Do R&D tax credits work? Evidence from a panel of countries 1979-1997," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 1-31, July.
    26. Goolsbee, Austan, 1998. "Does Government R&D Policy Mainly Benefit Scientists and Engineers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 298-302, May.
    27. Andrews,Donald W. K. & Stock,James H. (ed.), 2005. "Identification and Inference for Econometric Models," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521844413, October.
    28. Chirinko, Robert S. & Fazzari, Steven M. & Meyer, Andrew P., 1999. "How responsive is business capital formation to its user cost?: An exploration with micro data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 53-80, October.
    29. Himmelberg, Charles P & Petersen, Bruce C, 1994. "R&D and Internal Finance: A Panel Study of Small Firms in High-Tech Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 38-51, February.
    30. Nickell, Stephen J, 1981. "Biases in Dynamic Models with Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1417-1426, November.
    31. Giovannini, Alberto & Hubbard, R. Glenn & Slemrod, Joel (ed.), 1993. "Studies in International Taxation," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226297019.
    32. Jeffrey I. Bernstein, 1986. "The Effect of Direct and Indirect Tax Incentives on Canadian Industrial R&D Expenditures," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 12(3), pages 438-448, September.
    33. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    34. repec:hoo:wpaper:e-93-1 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lokshin, Boris & Mohnen, Pierre, 2007. "Measuring the Effectiveness of R&D Tax Credits in the Netherlands," MERIT Working Papers 2007-025, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Rufin Baghana & Pierre Mohnen, 2009. "Effectiveness of R&D tax incentives in small and large enterprises in Québec," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 91-107, June.
    3. Bettina Becker, 2013. "The Determinants of R&D Investment: A Survey of the Empirical Research," Discussion Paper Series 2013_09, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Sep 2013.
    4. Daniel Gama e Colombo, 2016. "Impact Assessment of Tax Incentives to Foster Industrial Innovation in Brazil: The Case of Law 11,196/05," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2016_30, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    5. Pierre Mohnen & Boris Lokshin, 2009. "What Does it Take for an R&D Tax Incentive Policy to Be Effective?," CIRANO Working Papers 2009s-11, CIRANO.
    6. Andrew C. Chang, 2014. "Tax Policy Endogeneity: Evidence from R&D Tax Credits," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2014-101, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    7. Ajay Agrawal & Carlos Rosell & Timothy S. Simcoe, 2014. "Tax Credits and Small Firm R&D Spending," NBER Working Papers 20615, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Elina Ladinska & Marielle Non & Bas Straathof, 2015. "More R&D with tax incentives? A meta-analysis," CPB Discussion Paper 309.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Antonio Acconcia & Claudia Cantabene, 2018. "Liquidity and Firms’ Response to Fiscal Stimulus," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(613), pages 1759-1785, August.
    10. Knoll, Bodo & Baumann, Martina & Riedel, Nadine, 2014. "The Global Effects of R&D Tax Incentives: Evidence from Micro-Data," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100347, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Elina Ladinska & Marielle Non & Bas Straathof, 2015. "More R&D with tax incentives? A meta-analysis," CPB Discussion Paper 309, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Irem Guceri, 2015. "Tax incentives and R&D: an evaluation of the 2002 UK reform using micro data," Working Papers 1511, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    13. Tim Buyse & Freddy Heylen & Ruben Schoonackers, 2015. "On The Role Of Public Policies And Wage Formation For Private Investment In R&D: A Long-Run Panel Analysis," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 15/911, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    14. Crespi, Gustavo & Giuliodori, David & Giuliodori, Roberto & Rodriguez, Alejandro, 2016. "The effectiveness of tax incentives for R&D+i in developing countries: The case of Argentina," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 2023-2035.
    15. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2017. "What promotes R&D? Comparative evidence from around the world," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 447-462.
    16. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Lerner, Josh, 2010. "The Financing of R&D and Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-639, Elsevier.
    17. Stéphane Goutte & David Guerreiro & Bilel Sanhaji & Sophie Saglio & Julien Chevallier, 2019. "International Financial Markets," Post-Print halshs-02183053, HAL.
    18. Tania Babina & Sabrina T. Howell, 2018. "Entrepreneurial Spillovers from Corporate R&D," NBER Working Papers 25360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Agustin Redonda, 2016. "Tax Expenditures and Sustainability. An Overview," Discussion Notes 1603, Council on Economic Policies.
    20. A. Minniti & F. Venturini, 2014. "R&D Policy and Schumpeterian Growth: Theory and Evidence," Working Papers wp945, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.

    More about this item

    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
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:applec:44:y:2012:i:12:p:1527-1538. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.