Author:

Keywords:

R&D subsidies, R&D expenditure, research, development, policy evaluation, treatment effects model, IV model

Abstract:

Several studies have already addressed the question whether R&D subsidies lead to additionality effects or crowd out firms’ private investment. This paper provides insights into the impact of R&D grants on private R&D expenditure, distinguishing between research and development activities. We employ parametric treatment effects models and IV regression methods. The hypothesis that firms respond differently to R&D subsidies depending on the nature of the R&D activity is confirmed. R&D subsidies are found to mainly contribute to an increase in development expenditure. By contrast, crowding out effects for the research part cannot be rejected.