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Do Canadian Firms Respond to Fiscal Incentives to Research and Development?

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  • Marcel Dagenais
  • Pierre Mohnen
  • Pierre Therrien

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of R&D tax incentives using an unbalanced panel of 434 Canadian firms. Not all firms in the sample are R&D performers. A B-index summarizing the various tax incentives for R&D is constructed for each firm, taking into account individual ceilings in the use of the relevant tax incentives. A generalized Tobit model with fixed effects is estimated. A one percent increase in the federal tax credit to R&D yields an average of $0.98 additional R&D expenditure per dollar of tax revenues foregone (for firms with a ceiling in their use of federal tax credit). Using the same measure on firms which are not subject to a ceiling, we obtain $1.04. Tax transfers represent more than 80% of the cost of government support to R&D. Cet articleétudie l'effet des incitatifs fiscaux à la R&D à partir d'unéchantillon non cylindré de 434 firmes canadiennes (dont certaines ne font pas de R&D). Avec les données de Compustat, nous estimons un modèle Tobit généralisé (à effet fixe). Ce modèle détermine notamment l'effet du prix effectif de la R&D (indice-B tenant compte des différents plafonds dans l'utilisation des incitatifs fiscaux) sur le stock de la recherche. En augmentant d'un pourcent le crédit d'impôt fédéral à la R&D, nous obtenons en moyenne 0,98$ de dépenses additionnelles de R&D par dollar de dépense fiscale (firme ayant un plafond d'utilisation du crédit fédéral). Ce résultat est majoré à 1,04$ pour les firmes pouvant utiliser la totalité du crédit fédéral. Le transfert fiscal représente plus de 80 % du coût du soutien à la R&D par le gouvernement.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcel Dagenais & Pierre Mohnen & Pierre Therrien, 1997. "Do Canadian Firms Respond to Fiscal Incentives to Research and Development?," CIRANO Working Papers 97s-34, CIRANO.
    • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:97s-34
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    Cited by:

    1. Van Reenen, John & Griffith, Rachel & Bloom, Nicholas, 2000. "Do R&D Credits Work? Evidence From A Panel Of Countries 1979-97," CEPR Discussion Papers 2415, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Pierre Mohnen, 1999. "Tax Incentives: Issue and Evidence," CIRANO Working Papers 99s-32, CIRANO.
    5. 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).
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Mellace, Giovanni & Ventura, Marco, 2019. "Intended and unintended effects of public incentives for innovation. Quasi-experimental evidence from Italy," Discussion Papers on Economics 9/2019, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics.
    9. 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.
    10. Eren Inci, 2004. "A Model of R&D Tax Incentives," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 597, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 09 Oct 2006.
    11. Holt, Jared & Skali, Ahmed & Thomson, Russell, 2021. "The additionality of R&D tax policy: Quasi-experimental evidence," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    12. 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.
    13. Russell Thomson, 2010. "Tax Policy and R&D Investment by Australian Firms," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(273), pages 260-280, June.
    14. Castellacci, Fulvio & Lie, Christine Mee, 2015. "Do the effects of R&D tax credits vary across industries? A meta-regression analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 819-832.
    15. 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.
    16. Desiderio Romero Jordán & José Félix Sanz Sanz, 2007. "Eficacia de los incentivos fiscales a la inversión en I+D en España en los años noventa," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 183(4), pages 9-32, december.
    17. Robert Atkinson, 2007. "Expanding the R&E tax credit to drive innovation, competitiveness and prosperity," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 32(6), pages 617-628, December.
    18. Bev Dahlby, 2005. "A Framework for Evaluating Provincial R&D Tax Subsidies," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 31(1), pages 45-58, March.
    19. 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.
    20. Köhler, Christian & Larédo, Philippe & Rammer, Christian, 2012. "Fiscal incentives for business R&D: Compendium of evidence on the effectiveness of innovation policy intervention," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 111472.
    21. Daniel J. Wilson, 2005. "Beggar thy neighbor? the in-state vs. out-of-state impact of state R&D tax credits," Working Paper Series 2005-08, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    22. 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.
    23. Stéphane Goutte & David Guerreiro & Bilel Sanhaji & Sophie Saglio & Julien Chevallier, 2019. "International Financial Markets," Post-Print halshs-02183053, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax incentives; R&D; generalized Tobit panel; Canada; Incitatifs fiscaux; R&D; modèle Tobit généralisé; Canada;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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