Can Grants to Consortia Spur Innovation and Science-Industry Collaboration? : Regression-Discontinuity Evidence from Poland

This paper uses a regression discontinuity design to study the effect of Poland's In-Tech program on innovation activities. The analysis focuses on a component of the program that provides grants to projects that are carried out by consortia o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bruhn, Miriam, McKenzie, David
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/669721483975271823/Can-grants-to-consortia-spur-innovation-and-science-industry-collaboration-regression-discontinuity-evidence-from-Poland
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25943
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Summary:This paper uses a regression discontinuity design to study the effect of Poland's In-Tech program on innovation activities. The analysis focuses on a component of the program that provides grants to projects that are carried out by consortia of firms and research entities. Data from a 2016 follow-up survey of applicants to the 2012 and 2013 calls for proposals show that In-Tech largely funds projects that would not otherwise get funded by other agencies or by the consortia themselves, increasing the probability of a project being completed by almost 60 percentage points. The results also show that the program leads to more science-industry collaboration, and increases the probability of applying for a patent related to the proposed project, as well as the probability of publishing a research paper related to the project. The analysis also finds early effects on commercialization of products related to the proposed project, although these products currently still make up a small share of firm's sales.