Who Gets the Money? The Dynamics of R&D Project Subsidies in Germany

This paper looks at which firms receive R&D project grants and how this public support evolves over time by considering in particular firm's previous participation. The question of the allocation of public R&D funding is becoming particularly important when it comes to identifying the effects of subsidies. Using firm-level data on German manufacturing and knowledge-intensive service firms, it turns out that participation in the funding scheme shows a rather high level of continuity. This is also confirmed by applying a multivariate approach. Firms who received funding in the past are more likely to be selected for public funding again. Moreover, a firm's size and knowledge capabilities increase the probability of entering the scheme. It is also revealed that in an analysis of the allocation of grants it is important to control for the overall supply of corresponding subsidies.