Use of R&D subsidies to encourage private R&D activities is expanding in OECD countries. Empirical evidence on their effectiveness has produced mixed results so far. One possible explanation is that firms and project selection rules may be in practice quite heterogeneous both across agencies and...

In many OECD countries several public agencies are involved in granting some form of R&D subsidy to firms. Empirical work on the effects that subsidies have on firm behavior and performance has produced mixed evidence. We focus on the firm participation stage in R&D subsidy programs in order to...