Estimating the Benefits of Targeted R&D Subsidies
利用芬兰项目数据，建模企业申请与研发投资决策及公共机构的补贴审批，发现定向补贴的社会回报率为30%至50%，但溢出效应小于企业利润效应。
We study the expected welfare effects of targeted R&D subsidies using project-level data from Finland. We model the application and R&D investment decisions of firms and the subsidy-granting decision of the public agency in charge of the program. Our model and institutional environment allow us to identify different benefits and costs of the R&D subsidy program. We find that expected effects of subsidies are very heterogeneous and estimated application costs low on average. The social rate of return on targeted subsidies is 30% to 50%, but spillover effects of subsidies are smaller than effects on firm profits. © 2013 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.