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

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.     

The ex ante assessment of knowledge spillovers: Government R&D policy, economic incentives and private firm behavior

This paper investigates the role of government R&D subsidy programs in stimulating knowledge spillovers. R&D subsidies are an effective public policy instrument when knowledge spillovers exist yet ex ante it is difficult to identify projects that have the greatest potential to increase innovation and economic growth. This paper derives a set of project and firm attributes that the literature finds generate knowledge spillovers and uses data on project proposals to estimate the degree to which a government R&D program conforms. We find that projects that were awarded R&D subsidies were more likely to have attributes such as participation in new research joint ventures and connections to universities and other firms. Following the post-award activities of firm, we find that receipt of a government R&D subsidy increased the funding from other sources when compared to firms that were not awarded funding.     

The effectiveness of subsidies revisited: Accounting for wage and employment effects in business R&D

The present paper investigates the effectiveness of public subsidies on business enterprise research in a panel of OECD countries. We contribute to the literature by explicitly distinguishing between the effects of a subsidy on R&D employment and expenditure, thereby accounting for a potential increase in scientists’ wages. We employ instrumental variable regressions to address endogeneity problems of the subsidization. The results indicate that subsidies are effective in generating additional research expenditure. Expenditure for business research increases by roughly 20% more than employment. We take this as evidence that subsidies may raise scientists’ wages given standard production functions.     

P企业规模、研发强度、资助强度与政府科技资助的绩效关系研究——基于浙江民营科技企业的实证研究/P P /P P/FONT /P

政府科技资助的绩效已经引起国内外学者的极大关注。本文基于文献研究,建立影响企业R&D投入的实证模型,采用浙江省民营科技企业数据,测度了政府科技资助对企业R&D投入的影响。进一步,分别从企业规模、研发强度、资助强度等不同视角研究政府科技资助的激励效应,探索政府科技资助的激励机理,研究发现：政府科技资助对企业滞后一年的R&D投入有显著促进作用;企业规模越大,政府科技资助激励效果越好;政府科技资助强度越大,激励效果越好;企业研发强度影响政府科技资助激励企业R&D投入。     

The impact of the French policy mix on business R&D: How geography matters

Based on a spatial extension of an R&D investment model, this paper measures the macroeconomic impact of the French R&D policy mix on business R&D using regional data. Our measure takes into account not only the direct effect of policies but also indirect effects generated by the existence of spatial interaction between regions. Using a unique database containing information on the levels of various R&D policy instruments received by firms in French NUTS3 regions over the period 2001–2011, our estimates of a spatial Durbin model with structural breaks and fixed effects reveal the existence of a negative spatial dependence among R&D investments in regions. In this context, while a-spatial estimates would conclude that all instruments have a crowding-in effect, we show that national subsidies are the only instrument that is able to generate significant crowding-in effects. On the contrary, it seems that the design, size and spatial allocation of funds from the other instruments (tax credits, local subsidies, European subsidies) lead them to act (in the French context) as beggar-thy-neighbor policies.     

财政补助、研发投入与企业财务风险——基于A股上市公司的证据

对现行研发投入财政补助规定分析发现,财政补助在激励企业增大研发投入的同时也会增大企业财务风险,财政补助门槛会造成企业研发投入集中分布在略高于门槛比例要求的水平上.运用2010-2018年A股上市公司数据的实证显示,企业财务风险水平与研发投入比例和财政补助比例显著正相关,销售收入为5 000万元～2亿元的企业研发投入比例集中分布在4％～5％,销售收入大于2亿元的企业研发投入比例集中分布于3％～4％,研发投入比例略低于门槛要求的企业明显偏少.建议有关财政补助认定标准中引入企业财务风险水平管控指标,在激励企业加大研发投入的同时促进企业管控财务风险;适当降低财政补助企业研发投入门槛要求,弱化企业为博取财政补助而采取过度冒险、增大研发投入行为.     

Do public subsidies affect the performance of new technology-based firms? The importance of evaluation schemes and agency goals

New technology-based firms (NTBFs) greatly contribute to the dynamic efficiency of the economic system. To perform this role, NTBFs need external financing. However, private financing of this type of firm is particularly subject to market inefficiencies. This seems to recommend policy intervention and NTBFs often find support through payment of direct public subsidies. When these are based on ex ante selective screening procedures of applicants and awarded competitively, direct public support may exert a positive effect on the performance of NTBFs beyond the amount of the subsidy. By picking promising projects, governments may signal the quality of a firm to third parties, thereby lowering information asymmetries. This paper contributes to the literature on the differing impact of various subsidies on firm performance by crossing the evaluation dimension (i.e. selective vs. automatic subsidies) with the dimension of the specific goal (R&D-enhancing vs. other measures) for which a subsidy may be implemented. Our results show that the evaluation mechanism and the goal of the subsidy are both important dimensions in the policy design domain and that selective R&D subsidies outperform other types of scheme in fostering NTBF performance.     

The impact of firm participation in R&D programmes on R&D partnerships

R&D subsidies designed to encourage innovation efforts by firms may have intended and unintended effects on the way they organize their innovation process. We present empirical evidence on how R&D subsidies affect firms’ R&D cooperation strategies. In particular, we investigate whether receiving public R&D subsidies affect the probability that a firm will set up an R&D partnership with a public research organization (PRO), or with other firms. Our main findings are: (i) public support significantly increases the chances that a firm will cooperate with a PRO, and (ii) public support also increases the likelihood that a firm will establish private partnerships, but to a smaller extent and only when firms have intangible knowledge assets. These results suggest that public R&D programmes trigger a behavioural change in firms’ R&D partnerships, alleviating barriers to cooperation.     

A dynamic auction for multi-object procurement under a hard budget constraint

This contribution revisits the problem of allocating R&D subsidies by government agencies. Typically, the applicants’ financial constraints are private information. The literature has recommended the use of auctions in order to reduce information rents and thus improve the efficiency of how scarce public funds are allocated. We propose a new open clock auction for this procurement problem. This auction is strategically simple, as it exhibits truthtelling in dominant strategies and satisfies ex-post rationality, while observing the budget constraint. We test the auction in Monte-Carlo simulation and discuss its applicability and limitations. Moreover, we highlight connections to recent advances in computer science.     

Do public subsidies stimulate private R&D spending?

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the empirical literature that evaluates the effects of public R&D support on private R&D investment. We apply a matching approach to analyze the effects of public R&D support in Spanish manufacturing firms. We examine whether or not the effects are different depending on the size of the firm and the technological level of the sectors in which the firms operate. We evaluate the effect of R&D subsidies on the subsidized firms, considering both the effect of subsidies on firms that would have performed R&D in the absence of public support and also the effect of inducement to undertake R&D activities. We also analyze the effect that concession of subsidies might have on firms which do not enjoy this type of support. The main conclusions indicate absence of “crowding-out”, either full or partial, between public and private spending and that some firms - mainly small and operating in low technology sectors - might not have engaged in R&D activities in the absence of subsidies.     

政府科技补助对企业创新投入的门槛效应——基于科技型中小企业的经验研究

本文基于我国2009年-2013年112家科技型中小企业的面板数据,以资助强度作为门槛变量,实证检验政治关联、政府科技补助对科技型中小企业创新投入的作用效果。结果表明:(1)对于我国科技型中小企业而言,政府科技补助具有显著的激励效应,没有挤出效应;(2)政治关联程度对政府科技补助与科技型中小企业创新投入之间关系具有削弱作用,但不显著;(3)随着政府科技补助强度的增大,政府科技补助的激励效应却会不断降低。     

The effect of public subsidies on firms’ investment–cash flow sensitivity: Transient or persistent?

This work analyses the effect of public subsidies on firms’ investments and investment–cash flow sensitivity in a longitudinal sample of 288 Italian unlisted non-venture capital backed owner-managed new-technology-based firms (NTBFs), observed over a 15-year period from 1994 to 2008. Seventy five of these firms received one or more public subsidies in the observation period. We use an error correction model (ECM) specification and system generalised method of moment (GMM) techniques that take into account the endogeneity of public subsidies. First, we find that the investments of small NTBFs are sensitive to internal cash flows, while those of large NTBFs are not. Receipt of public subsidies by small NTBFs results in an increased investment rate and a reduced investment–cash flow sensitivity, in the immediately following year. We interpret these results as an indication of the relaxation of financial constraints. Moreover, while the increase in the investment rate does not persist in the long run, the dependence of investments on cash flow remains negligible after receipt of the first public subsidy. These results support the view that public subsidies can help small NTBFs in persistently removing the financial constraints that bind their investment activity.     

R&D补贴对企业R&D投入及创新产出影响的实证研究

运用我国28个行业大中型企业的面板数据实证检验了政府RD补贴对企业RD投入及自主创新的影响,研究发现不论是在RD决定方程的静态模型还是动态模型中,RD补贴对企业RD投入的激励效应都是显著存在的。然而,在专利决定方程中政府RD补贴的激励效应却是不显著的,RD补贴对企业自主创新的正面影响存在一定的不确定性。政策启示在于:政府除了继续加大对企业RD补贴之外还可以适当增加RD税收优惠、政府采购等资助方式。此外,政府还应加大对民营科技型企业的补贴力度。     

R&D subsidies in permissive and restrictive environment: Evidence from Korea

This paper investigates the extent to which a regulatory environment for R&D subsidies shapes the magnitude and direction of R&D subsidies set by a government and consequent innovation paths. When the WTO adopted a permissive regulatory environment, we find that the Korean government increased R&D subsidies significantly (89.21%) and selectively so for firms and industries with higher returns. Recipient firms conducted less basic research and more development research. Improvements in innovations were mostly incremental and minor. However, such changes did not persist once the WTO switched to a restrictive regulatory environment. Our findings show that the regulatory environment imposed by the WTO largely affects allocation of R&D subsidies and suggest that a permissive regulatory environment may not necessarily maximize the potential for breakthrough innovations.     

国家自然科学基金项目申请量预测的新方法

近年来,国家自然科学基金项目申请量迅猛增长,申请量预测成为宏观调控这一趋势的重要决策依据。通过深入剖析影响申请量的政策因素和资格因素,开发了一个基于潜在申请者的申请量预测方法。实验结果表明,所提方法的平均相对预测误差显著小于多项式拟合、指数平滑、ARMA模型、灰色G(1,1)模型等常见预测方法。而且,新方法的主要创新性在于其能预估申请政策调控对申请量的影响。     

政府研发补贴、高管团队职能背景多样性与企业研发投入

回应“在获得政府研发补贴后，企业职能背景多样的高管团队能否帮助企业优化资源整合与分配，降低企业研发风险、提高研发活动预期收益”的问题，为进一步优化政府研发补贴政策制定和实施提供微观经验证据和理论依据。基于高层梯队理论与信息决策理论，以2008—2018年我国A股上市企业非平衡面板数据为样本，实证检验政府研发补贴对企业研发投入的影响以及高管团队职能背景多样性对政府研发补贴效应的调节作用。结果显示：政府研发补贴对企业研发投入有显著的正向影响，并且该促进作用在非国有企业组中更加明显；整体而言，高管职能背景多样化有利于政府研发补贴政策效应的发挥，激励企业增加研发投入，但影响效果也会受到企业性质和企业规模的影响。由此提出，创新政策制定者在确定评价指标和甄选帮扶对象时可将企业性质和企业内部高管团队特征纳入考量指标；企业在招贤纳士时要重视高管团队整体职能背景的互补性与完备性。     

中国财税政策对企业R&D的影响效应 ——基于创业板高新技术企业的实证分析

以我国创业板高新技术企业为研究样本,实证分析财税政策对企业RD活动的影响效应,研究表明税收优惠对企业RD有显著的正向作用,能够有效激励企业增加研发投入,而政府补助的影响效果不显著。进一步研究发现,税收优惠对不同区域企业技术创新的影响存在较大差异,对东、中、西部地区企业RD的激励效果依次递增,政府补助对西部地区高新技术企业的研发投入有一定的激励效应,却难以促进东部和中部地区高新技术企业的科技创新。基于此,提出建议兼顾税收优惠与政府补助的平衡性,着重依靠税收优惠扶持,结合地域特点制定有差别的税收优惠和政府补助政策。     

R&D subsidies & external collaborative breadth: Differential gains and the role of collaboration experience

External collaboration breadth is important for firms to acquire the knowledge needed to innovate. In this paper, we combine cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the Spanish Panel of Technological Innovation Survey (PITEC) to examine the indirect impact of R&D subsidies on firm external collaboration breadth. We contribute to understanding of the indirect impacts of R&D subsidies by first providing strong evidence of an economically significant average positive impact of R&D subsidies on firm external collaboration breadth. Second, our results advance understanding of the differential impacts of R&D subsidies by revealing the vast heterogeneity of the impact at the firm level, where approximately only half of treated firms experience a positive collaboration impact from R&D subsidies, while the remainder experience no impact or a negative effect. Finally, we advance understanding of the characteristics explaining the differential impact of R&D subsidies on external collaboration breadth by utilising the organisational learning literature to demonstrate the important role of firm collaboration experience.     

政府补贴对农业企业R&D投资行为的影响研究

政府创新补贴是一国扶持农业企业技术创新的重要政策工具,政策目标是促进农业企业的R&D投入杠杆效应而非形成补贴依赖,但补贴绩效如何尚缺乏系统研究。本文利用手工方式从涉农上市企业公开披露信息整理出的2012-2014年三年样本数据,构建联立方程模型实证分析了政府补贴对农业企业R&D投资的影响效应及其差异性。研究结果发现,政府补贴对涉农企业R&D投入的激励效应显著,但行业之间存在较大差异;涉农企业的绩效增长短期对主营业务R&D投入会发生杠杆效应,但长期来看效应微弱,R&D投资行为具有一定的补贴依赖倾向。此外,涉农上市企业内部治理与经营水平也是影响政府补贴对R&D创新投入效率的重要因素。最后,本文从政府补贴的资助对象、方式和监管补贴用途等方面提出了相应的政策建议。