The Allocation of Innovation Promotion Programs

Niclas Rüffer

ISBN 10: 3844104054 / ISBN 13: 9783844104059

Published by Josef Eul Verlag Gmbh Jun 2015, 2015

About this Item

This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -R&D and innovation policy is high on the political agenda in advanced economies. Market and system failures have been identified as reasons for private underinvestment in R&D and innovation and several policy instruments are in use to mitigate these failures. One central instrument of innovation policy are direct subsidies for firm R&D. By using direct project funding governments have the chance to target projects with high social returns and therefore, in theory, i. e. if policy makers can identify projects with high social returns, direct project funding can be an effective instrument to foster private sector R&D. However, there is no straightforward mechanism guaranteeing that subsidies are applied to projects which suffer from market or system failures. The allocation process of subsidies therefore appears to be central to the question of the effectiveness of subsidies.In spite of increasing scientific interest in innovation promotion policy, analysing allocation processes has been widely neglected in the mainstream literature. However, given the potential distortions which allocation processes can have it is worth addressing this issue in depth. This dissertation analyzes the allocation of R&D subsidies to firms theoretically and empirically using a unique data set from a special subsidy program from south-western Germany. Thereby this dissertation contributes to the growing literature on innovation promotion and is of interest for innovation researchers and innovation policy makers alike. 316 pp. Englisch.

Seller Inventory # 9783844104059

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Allocation of Innovation Promotion Programs
• Publisher: Josef Eul Verlag Gmbh Jun 2015
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3844104054
• ISBN 13: 9783844104059
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu

About this title

Synopsis

R&D and innovation policy is high on the political agenda in advanced economies. Market and system failures have been identified as reasons for private underinvestment in R&D and innovation and several policy instruments are in use to mitigate these failures. One central instrument of innovation policy are direct subsidies for firm R&D. By using direct project funding governments have the chance to target projects with high social returns and therefore, in theory, i. e. if policy makers can identify projects with high social returns, direct project funding can be an effective instrument to foster private sector R&D. However, there is no straightforward mechanism guaranteeing that subsidies are applied to projects which suffer from market or system failures. The allocation process of subsidies therefore appears to be central to the question of the effectiveness of subsidies. In spite of increasing scientific interest in innovation promotion policy, analysing allocation processes has been widely neglected in the mainstream literature. However, given the potential distortions which allocation processes can have it is worth addressing this issue in depth. This dissertation analyzes the allocation of R&D subsidies to firms theoretically and empirically using a unique data set from a special subsidy program from south-western Germany. Thereby this dissertation contributes to the growing literature on innovation promotion and is of interest for innovation researchers and innovation policy makers alike.

About the Author

Niclas Rüffer was born in 1981 in Minden (Germany) and studied economics in Heidelberg, Berlin and Rome from 2001-2006. After gathering international work experience in Sydney and Melbourne in 2007, he joined the Center for SME Research and Entrepreneurship of Mannheim University in 2008. He conducted various research projects for stakeholders such as the European Union, the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and the Ministry of Economics of the state of Baden-Württemberg. As a guest researcher he joined Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo in 2012-2013 before finishing his doctoral thesis at Mannheim University in 2014. Since 2013 he has served as a guest lecturer in Kobe University and since 2015 as a guest professor at the University Lyon II.