Title: Designing ex-post assessment of corporate RDI policies: conceptualisation, indicators and modelling

Authors: Giovanni Cerulli; Bianca Potì

Addresses: Ceris-CNR, National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, Via dei Taurini 19, 00185, Rome, Italy. ' Ceris-CNR, National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, Via dei Taurini 19, 00185, Rome, Italy

Abstract: This paper discusses different aspects related to the ex-post assessment of the effect of R&D and innovation (RDI) policies. To this end, the paper puts forward a comprehensive 'conceptual framework' where agents' behaviours, factors affecting their decisions, and quantitative (econometric) methods for impact evaluation are linked together and analysed. In particular, this work puts forward the following issues: 1) a generalised RDI investment model for explaining the potential occurrence of subsidy success (i.e., additionality); 2) a logical framework for the functioning of a project-funding RDI policy, rooted in the policy-cycle approach; 3) the identification of the main factors driving the actors' behaviour, expressed through interconnected behavioural relations; 4) a list of critical aspects regarding the design of public support to RDI, which need to be better addressed in future work to reach more reliable conclusions on the actual impact of an RDI policy.

Keywords: R&D policy; ex-post evaluation; STI indicators; firm performance; innovation policy; research and development; public support.

DOI: 10.1504/WRSTSD.2012.047652

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 2012 Vol.9 No.2/3/4, pp.96 - 123

Received: 01 Jul 2011
Accepted: 13 Dec 2011

Published online: 18 Sep 2014 *

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