Research and Development Support and Private Entities in the Slovak Republic

The paper deals with issue of research and development support in the Slovak Republic. Target group of survey are private companies with a certificate of competence for the performance of research and development. Firstly, the results of the survey suggest, that among mentioned type of companies, the percentage of turnover reinvested into research and development is below 20%. Secondly, information about research and development support is brighter for smaller firms. Further, firms consider bureaucracy and complex financial rules as a serious obstacles to grant applying. Even 65% of firms with a certificate of competence for the performance of research and development do not even know that tax credit for research and development exists and only 5% of them use it. 35% of companies do not know about possibility to finance research and development activities by venture capital. In terms of starting research and development activities, companies desire direct financial support above 51% of its total cost. Analysis of association between success in grant applying and firm characteristics showed that only statistically significant variable is a legal form of company, whereas region in which the business is located, branch of business, and the size of the company are statistically insignificant variables.