Abstract:This paper discusses conceptual frameworks for measuring the effects of innovation policy and begins with applying conventional descriptive methods to explore how firms rate and rank the merits of public intervention. Based on survey data from some 1200 Austrian firms we then challenge the hypothetical survey question ("What would you have done if public support was denied?") by comparing the respective answers with changes that actually occurred when public assistance was refused. This is a contribution to the ongoing literature as is the attempt to relate any of the observed additionalities to the firms' characteristics, their perceived barriers to innovation and the degree they make use of the public support system. The effects of policy interventions prove to be cumulative in a dual sense. On the one hand, our results confirm the well-known notion that large firms make the best use of funds. On the other hand, substantial changes in the way a company undertakes R&D&I-related activities appear to only result from multiple policy interventions of different kinds. While supported firms tend to immediately increase their resources devoted to innovation projects, the result-based concepts of additionality only come into effect once a threshold level of intervention has been reached. Acknowledging that a public innovation support system already incentivises potential beneficiaries to change their innovation-related behaviour, and that eventual success in terms of outcomes does not arise from some discrete support measure, but from the synergies of multiple policy action, we conclude that future work should focus more on the evaluation of portfolios of programmes and their interactions. JEL: C25, C42, H50, O31
Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in Abstract:EU enlargement has increased the diversity of the European Union in a substantial way, in particular with respect to its capacities in the fields of science, technology and innovation (STI). The shares of both gross and business sector expenditures on R&D in GDP are increasingly diverging following EU enlargement pointing at quite different levels of technological opportunities and absorptive capacity. Against this background, this paper tries to disentangles the rationales for STI policies at an EU level. Starting from the different policy rationales we assign different STI policy fields to levels of governance. Our discussion suggests that the European Union plays two quite distinct roles in EU STI policy. The first role is closely related to the assignment of policy competences and establishes the fields where the EU should act as policy maker and program owner. But this alone is likely not enough when it comes to the managing and coordination of complex horizontal policy fields such as STI policy. Here the second role of the European Commission comes into place. This second role is not related to policy making but to the "right" to fuel discussions to find coordinated solutions. This role is essentially political and relates to the job to stimulate activities in areas where the Commission has no mandate (due to missing clear rationales) to act alone.
No abstract
Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may Abstract:This paper explores the effects of Austria's recent Special Funds initiative on the R&D-expenditures of its private corporate sector. It is the first one to approach the due evaluation from a macro perspective. First, simple descriptive statistics show that the noticeable delays in actual disbursements and the replacement of regular RTI-funds by these special funds reduce the latter's scope. Apparently, money can't work unless it is spent and "additional" funds at the expense of regular funds will trigger no additionalities. We then set up an econometric model to derive some inference on the relative importance of different public support channels on the business sectors's R&D spending. Though the estimates suggest that direct government subsidies to R&D-performing firms unfold great leverage effects, the dynamics of output growth as well as an R&D-prone high-tech industry structure seem to be more important drivers of the business sector's R&D intensity. Likewise, feeding special funds into the higher education sector will raise the R&D-intensity of the business enterprise sector only if and to the degree that such funds contribute to Austria's overall economic prosperity or foster structural change towards more R&D-intensive manufacturing.-1 - IntroductionThe world's leading R&D countries, most notably Sweden and Finland, but also the U.S. are typically characterized by a very high share of the corporate sector in total R&D expenditures, while public R&D outlays account for only a minor fraction.Outstanding R&D performances of the private corporate sector do not descend upon countries like "manna from heaven". Instead, large publicly financed initial investments have often laid the grounds for subsequent success. For instance, several authors suggest that the favourable outcome of Finnish R&D performance in these days took its starting point when the government introduced an urgent action plan for the promotion of research and technology development in 1996. Within the three years period 1997-1999 more than FIM 3 billion (about € 504 Mio.) of fresh funds had been disbursed to enhance the operation of the national innovation system. The first evaluation of this program has come to the conclusion that the additional appropriation for research has been highly rewarding: the private business sector expanded its research investments; company profitability rose through increased research input; the number of p...
Background report 3.1.2 FFF: Internal functioning and customer satisfaction Leonhard Jörg (Technopolis) Rahel Falk (WIFO)
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.