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Will the real R&D employees please stand up? Effects of tax breaks on firm-level outcomes

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  • Irem Guceri

    (Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation)

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effect of tax incentives for research and development (R&D) on R&D spending and employment of R&D staff in a quasi-experimental setting. To do this, I exploit an exogenous reform in UK R&D tax policy, which changed the definition of an SME from firms with fewer than 250 employees to those with fewer than 500 employees. I use the UK Business Enterprise Research and Development Survey (BERD), for which companies do not have an incentive to relabel their ordinary employees or spending as R&D. I find that R&D tax incentives help to increase R&D spending at the company level; this translates to a user cost elasticity between −0.88 and −1.18. Further, the additional R&D generated through the tax relief can be attributed entirely to an increase in the number of R&D employees in the companies’ workforce. Together, these results challenge a common narrative on the role of R&D tax incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Irem Guceri, 2018. "Will the real R&D employees please stand up? Effects of tax breaks on firm-level outcomes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(1), pages 1-63, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:25:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s10797-017-9438-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-017-9438-3
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    2. Urbatsch, R., 2020. "Do expert surveys underrate lower-income countries?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(8).
    3. Oliver Falck & Anita Dietrich & Tobias Lohse & Friederike Welter & Heike Belitz & Cedric von der Hellen & Carsten Dreher & Carsten Schwäbe & Dietmar Harhoff & Monika Schnitzer & Uschi Backes-Gellner &, 2019. "Steuerliche Forschungsförderung: Wichtiger Impuls für FuE-Aktivitäten oder zu wenig zielgerichtet?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 72(09), pages 03-25, May.
    4. Leonie Koch & Martin Simmler, 2020. "How Important are Local Knowledge Spillovers of Public R&D and What Drives Them?," EconPol Working Paper 42, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    5. Thomas H. W. Ziesemer, 2021. "The Effects of R&D Subsidies and Publicly Performed R&D on Business R&D: A Survey," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 236(1), pages 171-205, March.
    6. Koch, Leonie & Simmler, Martin, 2020. "How important are local knowledge spillovers of public R&D and what drives them?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    7. Pöschel, Carla, 2020. "Incentive Effects of R&D Tax Incentives: A Meta-Analysis Focusing on R&D Tax Policy Designs," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 243, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre, revised 2020.
    8. Xihui Chen & Juan Ou & Xuemei Tang & Qinghe Yang, 2023. "The Impact of Officials’ Off-Office Accountability Audit of Natural Resource Assets on Firms’ Green Innovation Strategies: A Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-36, February.
    9. Manelici, Isabela & Pantea, Smaranda, 2021. "Industrial policy at work: Evidence from Romania’s income tax break for workers in IT," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    10. John Lester, 2021. "Benefit-Cost Analysis of Federal and Provincial SR&ED Investment Tax Credits," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 14(1), January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D; Tax credits; Quasi-experiment; Difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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