Do Direct Subsidies Stimulate New R&D Outputs in Firms? Evidence from the Czech Republic

This study examines output additionality effects of direct support to business R&D in the Czech Republic over 2004-2016. Using a large and rich firm-level dataset, we employ a non-parametric propensity score matching estimator to find out whether the subsidies stimulated new applications for formal intellectual property (IP) protection that would not have been made otherwise. The results indicate additionality effects for IP protection of R&D outputs at home but not abroad. Hence, the subsidies have fallen short of expectations for promoting new technology that is sufficiently novel to warrant international IP protection and thus could make a difference in foreign markets. The paper concludes with reflections on how subsidy programmes of this kind are justified, designed and evaluated.