Title: Impact appraisal of regional innovation policy measures on automotive industry competitiveness: a search after better practices

Authors: Bart Kamp

Addresses: INNOVA Europe, Kunstlaan 24, 1000 Brussels, Belgium; Erasmus University Rotterdam-Rotterdam School of Management, P.O. Box 1738, Room T11-53, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract: The present paper reports on a search after better practices in policy support to enhance the competitiveness of automotive activities on a regional level. Based on a Europe-wide inventory of such initiatives, an initial long list was drawn up. This long list was reduced on the basis of a number of |filter criteria|, such as preliminary success signals, the presumed causal relationship of the measure vis-a-vis industrial competitiveness and the specificity of the measure. The resulting short list was subjected to a more severe evaluation. This consisted notably of gathering verifiable proof of performance and of positive effects sorted by the measures. In the end, a number of remarkable success cases were identified. However, on the whole, it appeared that only with regard to very few initiatives was it possible to establish a proven track record and/or contrast its positive causal effect on the health and dynamics of regional automotive activities. An important conclusion and implication of the research results is that there is a strong need for more systematic evaluation of the performance of regional initiatives that aim to support the automotive industry.

Keywords: automotive R&D; innovation policies; regional economies; automobile industry; benchmarking; good practices; impact assessment; regional innovation; industrial competitiveness; performance evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2008.020311

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2008 Vol.8 No.4, pp.401 - 430

Published online: 15 Sep 2008 *

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