Abstract
We study the causal effect of subsidized R&D collaboration on external collaborations and innovation outcomes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular, we make use of a randomized controlled trial to analyze the effect of a nationwide innovation voucher scheme in the United Kingdom that grants SMEs across all industries financial support of up to 5,000 GBP for engaging the services of experts, e.g., from universities, research institutes or IP advisors, when pursuing an innovation-related project. Our results show that the innovation voucher program has an immediate, short-term impact on the execution of these innovation projects with positive effects on product and service development, internal processes, and intellectual property protection. However, we also observe that these results fade out quite quickly, i.e., two years after the intervention many effects caused by the innovation voucher program have disappeared. Based on our results, we also provide some practical guidance to further improve the effectiveness of voucher programs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 104515 |
| Journal | Research Policy |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2022 |
Bibliographical note
JEL classifications: O31, O36, O38Acknowledgements:
We are grateful for helpful comments and suggestions by Marc van der Steeg, Alessandro Maffioli, Joris Meijaard, the editor and three anonymous referees on an earlier version, and by discussions at the IGL Research Winter Meetings 2017 and 2019 in Washington D.C. and Amsterdam and the VHB-TIE conference 2019 in Darmstadt. We would also like to thank researchers at IGL, Teo Firpo, Albert Bravo-Biosca and James Phipps, for their support and advice, and Haylee Ham for excellent research assistance. The data collection was funded by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation ( www.innovateuk.ukri.org ). The access to innovation voucher program data and data on other R&D support by Innovate UK is gratefully acknowledged.
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