SME Instrument: an empirical analysis on the impact of the second phase on the performance of Italian enterprises
Keywords:
R&D activities, public funds, enterprises, European funds, innovation, public management
Abstract
This article is part of the strand of research on evaluating the effectiveness of public funds in stimulating the growth of research and development activities in the private sector. The research focus is on the SME Instrument, in its original version born within Horizon 2020, and in particular Phase 2 of the instrument. The research question, therefore, is "Has the second phase of the SME Instrument had a positive impact on the Italian SMEs that have joined it? If yes, to what extent?" The evaluation will be based on quantitative data inherent in the innovation (and non-innovation) performance of individual firms. At the conclusion of the analysis, it can be concluded that the second phase of the SME Instrument did not produce significant additional effects on the performance of firms, approximated by the ratio of total sales to total assets. The only exception is for those enterprises aged between 6 and 15 years, for which there is a partially significant increase in the sales/assets ratio after receiving funding. Given the research results and given that public and private management share a common interest in making their investments effective and efficient by seeing a return on them, the implications for policymakers are twofold: personalization of policy and promotion of an integrated innovation model, both of which imply a rethinking of the instrument. However, like any research, the results obtained are never an end-point, but the starting point for new reflections from which to develop further research.
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References
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31. Heckman, J.J., H. Ichimura, J. Smith e P. Todd (1996), Characterizing Selection Bias using Experimental Data, mimeo, revised version is published in Econometrica 66, 1017–1098.
32. Heijs, J., Herrera, L., (2004) The distribution of R&D subsidies and its effect on the final outcome of innovation policy, Working paper Instituto de Analisis Industrial y Financiero 46, Madrid
33. Kaiser U., (2004), Private R&D and public R&D subsidies: Microeconometric evidence from Denmark, CEBR Discussion Paper 2004-19.
34. Kris Aerts, Dirk Czaenitzki, (2004) Using innovation survey data to evaluate R&D policy: the case of Belgium
35. Lach S. (2000) Do R&D subsidies stimulate or displace private R&D? Evidence from Israel, Working Paper 7943 Massachusetts
36. Lerner J., (1999), The Government as Venture Capitalist: The Long‐Run Impact of the SBIR Program, The Journal of Business, Vol. 72, No. 3 pp. 285-318
37. Loof H, Heshmati A. (2005), The impact of public funds on private R&D Investment: New evidence from firm level innovation study, MTT Discussion Papers 3
38. Martini A., Sisti M., (2009), Valutare il successo delle politiche pubbliche, Il Mulino, Bologna
39. Matthias Almus and Dirk Czarnitzki (2003) The Effects of Public R&D Subsidies on Firms' Innovation Activities: The Case of Eastern Germany, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Apr., 2003, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Apr., 2003), pp. 226-236
40. Merito M,, Giannangeli S., Bonaccorsi A.,(2009), L’impatto degli incentivi pubblici per la R&S sull’attività delle PMI, dal libro La valutazione degli aiuti alle imprese, il Mulino
41. Mina A., Di Minin A., Martelli I., Testa G., Santoleri P. (2021), Public funding of innovation: exploring application and allocations of the European SME instrument, Research Policy 50
42. Rakic R. et al., (2021), Fostering R&D intensity in the European Union: Policy experiences and lessons learned, Case study contribution to the OECD TIP project on R&D intensity.
43. Renda A., (2015), Europe and innovation: is 2020 on the Horizon, ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
44. Rossi, S. P. S., Chies L., Podrecca E., (2020), Superando il guado. Innovazione, esportazioni e strategie delle imprese tra vincoli finanziari, ambientali e di capitale umano, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
45. Rubin D. B., (1974), Estimating Causal Effects of Treatments in Randomized and Non-Randomized Studies, Journal of Educational Psychology, 66, 688-701.
46. Stiglitz, J. E., & Wallsten, S. J. (2000). Public-private technology partnerships—promises and pitfalls. In P. Vaillancourt Rosenau (Ed.), Public-private policy partnerships (pp. 37–58). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Pre
47. Suetens S., (2002), R&D subsidies and production effects of R&D personnel: evidence from the Flemish region, CESIT Discussion Paper 2002/03, Antwerp
48. Van Caneghem Tom, Geert Van Campenhout (2012) Quantity and quality of information and SME financial structure, Small Bus Econ 39
49. Veugelers R., Cincera M., (2015), How to turn on the innovation growth machine in Europe, ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
50. Wallsten, S. J. (2000), The Effects of Government-Industry R&D Programs on Private R&D: The Case of the Small Business Innovation Research Program RAND Journal of Economics, 31, 8
51. Wooldridge, J.M. (2002), Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. MIT Press, Cambridge
2. Almus M, Czarnitzki D. (2003) The effects of public R&D subsidies on firms’ innovation activities: the case of Eastern Germany, Journal of business and Economic Statistics 21(2), 226-236
3. Arrow K., (1962), Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for Invention. In: Groves, H.M. (Ed.), The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity: Economic and Social Factors. National Bureau of Economic Research, pp. 609–626
4. Aschhoff, B. (2010). Who gets the money? The dynamics of R&D projects subsidies in Germany. Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik), 230, 522-546.
5. Becker B. (2015), Public R&D Policies and Private R&D Investment: A Survey of the Empirical Evidence, Aston Business School
6. Bronzini R., Piselli P. (2016) The impact of R&D subsidies on firm innovation Bank of Italy, Directorate General for Economics, Statistics and Research, Via Nazionale 191, 00184 Rome, Italy
7. Buiseret, T.; Cameron, H.; y Georgiou, L. (1995), What Differences Does it Make? Additionality in the Public Support of R&D in Large Firms. International Journal of Technology Management, Vol.10, p. 587-600
8. Busom I, (2000) An empirical evaluation of the effects of R&D subsidies, Economic innovation and new technology, Vol 9,111-148
9. Cantner U., Kosters S., (2012) Picking the winner? Empirical evidence on the targeting of R&D subsidies to start-ups Small Bus Econ 39:921–936
10. Carboni, O.A. (2011) R&D subsidies and private R&D expenditures: Evidence from Italian manufacturing data, International Review of Applied Economics 25: 419-439
11. Catozzella, A., Vivarelli, M., (2011), Beyond additionality: are innovation subsidies counterproductive?, IZA Discussion Papers, No. 5746
12. Cerulli G., (2010), Modelling and Measuring the Effect of Public Subsidies on Business R&D: A Critical Review of the Econometric Literature, The economic record, vo. 86, N.274, 421-449
13. Cerulli G., Potì B., (2008), Evaluating the Effect of Public Subsidies on firm R&D activity: an Application to Italy Using the Community Innovation Survey, Ceris-Cnr, W.P. N° 9
14. Czarnitzki D., Fier A., (2002), Do Innovation Subsidies Crowd Out Private Investment? Evidence from the German Service Sector, Applied Economics Quarterly 48(02-04)
15. Czarnitzki D., Fier A. (2001) Do R&D subsidies matter? Evidence from the German service sector,
16. ZEW Discussion paper No. 01-19
17. Czarnitzki (2002), Research and Development: Financial Constraints and the Role of Public Funding for Small and Medium–sized Enterprises, ZEW Discussion Paper No. 02-74
18. Czarnitzki D. e Hussinger K, (2004) The Link between R&D Subsidies, R&D Spending and Technological Performance, ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 04-056
19. David, P.A., Hall, B.H. and Toole, A.A. (2000) Is public R&D a complement or substitute for private R&D? A review of the econometric evidence. Research Policy 29: 497-52
20. David, P.A. and B.H. Hall (1999), Heart of Darkness: Public-private Interactions inside the R&D Black Box, Economic Discussion Paper, No. 1999-W16, Nuffield College Oxford, June.
21. De Blasio G., Fantino D., Pellegrini G., (2015), Evaluating the impact of innovation incentives: evidence from an unexpected shortage of funds, Industrial and Corporate Change, Volume 24, Issue 6, December, Pages 1285–1314
22. De Rose P., L’Europa per i comuni: Strumenti per la programmazione e lo sviluppo turistico delle autonomie locali, Aloe Editore, 2019
23. Di Minin, Carbone A., (2020) Seal of Excellence. Come spendere (bene) 330 Milioni di Euro, pubblicato sul Sole24Ore il 13 Giugno 2020.
24. Doguet E. (2003) Are subsidies a substitute or a complement to privately funded R&D? Evidence from France using propensity score methods for non-experimental data, Université de Paris I, Working paper no 2003 (75)
25. Fantino, D.,Cannone, G., (2011), The evaluation of the efficacy of the R&D European funds in Piedmont, Conference Paper, 51st Congress of the European Regional Science Association
26. Fritsch, M. (2008). How does new business formation affect regional development? Introduction to the special issue. Small Business Economics, 30(1), 1–14
27. Goolsbee, A. (1998), Does Government R&D Policy Mainly Benefit Scientists and Engineers, American Economic Review, 88(2), pp. 298-302.
28. Görg H., Strobl E. (2005), The effect of R&D subsidies on private R&D, Research Paper, No. 2005/38, Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham
29. Guellec D., Van Pottelsberghe De La Potterie B., (2003), The impact of public R&D expenditure on business R&D, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 12:3, 225-243
30. Hans Loof, Alms Heshmati (2005), The impact of public funds on private R&D Investment:new evidence from a firm level innovation study, MTT Discussion papers 3
31. Heckman, J.J., H. Ichimura, J. Smith e P. Todd (1996), Characterizing Selection Bias using Experimental Data, mimeo, revised version is published in Econometrica 66, 1017–1098.
32. Heijs, J., Herrera, L., (2004) The distribution of R&D subsidies and its effect on the final outcome of innovation policy, Working paper Instituto de Analisis Industrial y Financiero 46, Madrid
33. Kaiser U., (2004), Private R&D and public R&D subsidies: Microeconometric evidence from Denmark, CEBR Discussion Paper 2004-19.
34. Kris Aerts, Dirk Czaenitzki, (2004) Using innovation survey data to evaluate R&D policy: the case of Belgium
35. Lach S. (2000) Do R&D subsidies stimulate or displace private R&D? Evidence from Israel, Working Paper 7943 Massachusetts
36. Lerner J., (1999), The Government as Venture Capitalist: The Long‐Run Impact of the SBIR Program, The Journal of Business, Vol. 72, No. 3 pp. 285-318
37. Loof H, Heshmati A. (2005), The impact of public funds on private R&D Investment: New evidence from firm level innovation study, MTT Discussion Papers 3
38. Martini A., Sisti M., (2009), Valutare il successo delle politiche pubbliche, Il Mulino, Bologna
39. Matthias Almus and Dirk Czarnitzki (2003) The Effects of Public R&D Subsidies on Firms' Innovation Activities: The Case of Eastern Germany, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Apr., 2003, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Apr., 2003), pp. 226-236
40. Merito M,, Giannangeli S., Bonaccorsi A.,(2009), L’impatto degli incentivi pubblici per la R&S sull’attività delle PMI, dal libro La valutazione degli aiuti alle imprese, il Mulino
41. Mina A., Di Minin A., Martelli I., Testa G., Santoleri P. (2021), Public funding of innovation: exploring application and allocations of the European SME instrument, Research Policy 50
42. Rakic R. et al., (2021), Fostering R&D intensity in the European Union: Policy experiences and lessons learned, Case study contribution to the OECD TIP project on R&D intensity.
43. Renda A., (2015), Europe and innovation: is 2020 on the Horizon, ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
44. Rossi, S. P. S., Chies L., Podrecca E., (2020), Superando il guado. Innovazione, esportazioni e strategie delle imprese tra vincoli finanziari, ambientali e di capitale umano, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
45. Rubin D. B., (1974), Estimating Causal Effects of Treatments in Randomized and Non-Randomized Studies, Journal of Educational Psychology, 66, 688-701.
46. Stiglitz, J. E., & Wallsten, S. J. (2000). Public-private technology partnerships—promises and pitfalls. In P. Vaillancourt Rosenau (Ed.), Public-private policy partnerships (pp. 37–58). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Pre
47. Suetens S., (2002), R&D subsidies and production effects of R&D personnel: evidence from the Flemish region, CESIT Discussion Paper 2002/03, Antwerp
48. Van Caneghem Tom, Geert Van Campenhout (2012) Quantity and quality of information and SME financial structure, Small Bus Econ 39
49. Veugelers R., Cincera M., (2015), How to turn on the innovation growth machine in Europe, ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
50. Wallsten, S. J. (2000), The Effects of Government-Industry R&D Programs on Private R&D: The Case of the Small Business Innovation Research Program RAND Journal of Economics, 31, 8
51. Wooldridge, J.M. (2002), Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. MIT Press, Cambridge
Published
2024-06-30
How to Cite
De Rose, P., & Malavenda, D. (2024). SME Instrument: an empirical analysis on the impact of the second phase on the performance of Italian enterprises. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 20(16), 55. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2024.v20n16p55
Section
ESJ Social Sciences
Copyright (c) 2024 Peppino De Rose, Daria Malavenda
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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