The influence of financial constraints on participation in and the impact of public policies for private R&D
研究了财务约束如何影响企业参与公共研发支持项目以及这些政策对研发支出的效果，发现高负债和高偿债能力的企业参与率低，但政策对财务约束强的企业研发支出影响更大。
Abstract Financial constraints (FC) and access to external funding are widely recognized as barriers to R&D activities and are often cited as strong justifications for public support of R&D. However, the mediating role of these constraints in influencing the impact of policies on R&D spending by firms has received little attention. The main novelty of this article lies in the simultaneous use of a comprehensive set of 17 quantitative indicators which reflect the solvency, indebtedness, liquidity, and credit costs of firms as reflected in their balance sheets. These indicators were combined into seven synthetic measures through factor analysis. We addressed two research hypotheses. First, Spanish firms that face greater FC receive public support more frequently. The results suggest that highly indebted firms and those with greater solvency are less likely to participate in public support programs. Conversely, firms with higher costs associated with loans are more likely to receive support. Second, public support has a greater impact on the R&D expenditures of financially constrained firms (level of financial additionality [FA]) than on the R&D spending of less constrained firms. To assess this hypothesis, we use a propensity score matching model. The findings suggest higher FA for both the most solvent and the most indebted firms. However, if the costs of these debts are high, an effect of below-average additionality is observed.