The Causal Effects of R&D Grants: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Santoleri, Pietro; Mina, Andrea; Di Minin, Alberto; Martelli, Irene
• 署名单位: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna; University of Cambridge
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01233
• 发表日期: 2024-11
• 页码: 1495-1510
• 关键词: development subsidies; development investments; financing innovation; knowledge spillovers; firm-level; incentives; GOVERNMENT; IMPACT; constraints; performance

摘要

We leverage the discontinuity in the assignment mechanism of the Small and Medium Enterprise Instrument-the first European research and development (R&D) subsidy targeting small firms-to provide the broadest quasi-experimental evidence on R&D grants over both geographical and sectoral scopes. Grants trigger sizable impacts on a wide range of firm-level outcomes. Heterogeneous effects are consistent with grants reducing financial frictions. This reduction is due to funding rather than certification. We also provide direct causal evidence on pure certification- signaling not attached to funding-and show that firms that only receive quality stamps do not improve their performance. Finally, our estimates suggest that the scheme produces private returns that are positive and comparable to those of the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research program, while also generating geographical and sectoral spillovers in the form of increased rates of entrepreneurial entry.