Impact of innovation policies: Evidence from the Italian innovation survey

The Italian innovation survey shows that a large majority of the 7,553 innovating firms declared that the existing technology policies have had no relevance for the introduction of innovations. Most public policies and funds are targeted to the largest firms in the high-technology sectors. The existing policy tools appear hardly adequate for supporting the much larger body of innovating firms of smaller size and active in all industries. Moreover, the data show that institutional constraints and incentives, such as the environmental ones, play an important role in technological change, even more relevant than specific innovation policies. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.