Do Targeted R&D Grants toward SMEs Increase Employment and Demand for High Human Capital Workers?

Sven Olov Daunfeldt, Daniel Halvarsson, Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall, Alexander McKelvie

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/PoemChapter

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most previous studies on the employment effects of government R&D grants targeting SMEs are characterized by data-, measurement-, and selection problems, making it difficult to construct a relevant control group of firms that did not receive an R&D grant. We investigate the effects on employment and firm-level demand for high human capital workers of two Swedish programs targeted toward growth-oriented SMEs using Coarsened Exact Matching. Our most striking result is the absence of any statistically significant effects. We find no robust evidence that the targeted R&D grant programs had any positive and statistically significant effects on the number of employees recruited into these SMEs, or that the grants are associated with an increase in the demand for high human capital workers. The lack of statistically significant findings is troublesome considering that government support programs require a positive impact to cover the administrative costs associated with these programs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationInternational Studies in Entrepreneurship
PublisherSpringer
Pages175-198
Number of pages24
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

Publication series

NameInternational Studies in Entrepreneurship
Volume53
ISSN (Print)1572-1922
ISSN (Electronic)2197-5884

Keywords

  • Firm growth
  • High human capital
  • Innovation policy
  • Outcome additionality
  • R&D grants
  • Statistical matching methods

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous)
  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
  • Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Do Targeted R&D Grants toward SMEs Increase Employment and Demand for High Human Capital Workers?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this