Naslov
Size matters? Impact evaluation of business development grants on SME performance

Autori
Srhoj, Stjepan ; Lapinski, Michael ; Walde, Janette

Izvornik
Faculty of Economics and Statistics, University of Innsbruck Working Papers

Vrsta, podvrsta
Ostale vrste radova, ostalo

Godina
2019

Ključne riječi
business development grants ; policy evaluation ; two-way fixed effects regression ; matching ; heterogeneous treatment effects ; dose-response-function

Sažetak
Many international organisations emphasize the need of public grant schemes evaluations. An evaluation provides the opportunity to assess the socio-economic impact achieved by the grant and allows for a refinement of such policy instruments in order to make public funding more effective in achieving the objectives. In this paper, we investigate the effects of a business development grant scheme. More specifically we question whether firms’ performance measures increased after participating in this grant scheme. Methodically, we match grant receiving firms with grant non-receivers and estimate the average treatment effect on the treated using a two way fixed effects regression. Our results point towards a positive effect of the grant scheme, which is particularly evident for firms of smaller size. Our estimated dose-response functions show that the share of grant amount in firm profits needs to be high enough for the grants to be effective. According to back-of- the envelope analysis, benefits outweigh the direct scheme costs.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Ekonomija

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