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You can lead a firm to R&D but can you make it innovate? UK evidence from SMEs

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  • Marc Cowling

    (Brighton Business School)

Abstract

The UK Government introduced tax credits for SMEs to promote and support R&D in 2000. Since then the policy has become more generous in this respect, particularly since 2008. In this paper, we use the National Systems of Entrepreneurship as a conceptual framework in which to question whether SMEs take-up of tax credits has actually led to an increase in product, service, or process innovations. Our evidence suggests that (a) SME engagement with the policy is fairly randomly distributed across the sector, and (b) there is little additional product–service innovation to justify the expenditure in foregone taxes given the current distribution of credits, but (c) there is evidence of enhanced radical process innovations, particularly when combined with strong capability and planning at the firm level.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Cowling, 2016. "You can lead a firm to R&D but can you make it innovate? UK evidence from SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 565-577, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:46:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-016-9704-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-016-9704-2
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    Cited by:

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    2. Cowling, Marc & Ughetto, Elisa & Lee, Neil, 2018. "The innovation debt penalty: Cost of debt, loan default, and the effects of a public loan guarantee on high-tech firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 166-176.
    3. Andrea Bellucci & Luca Pennacchio & Alberto Zazzaro, 2019. "Public R&D subsidies: collaborative versus individual place-based programs for SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 213-240, January.
    4. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Fernando Úbeda, 2022. "Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 875-900, June.
    5. Samuel Amponsah Odei & Jan Stejskal & Viktor Prokop, 2021. "Revisiting the Factors Driving Firms’ Innovation Performances: the Case of Visegrad Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(3), pages 1331-1344, September.
    6. Erik E. Lehmann & Nikolaus Seitz, 2017. "Freedom and innovation: a country and state level analysis," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(5), pages 1009-1029, October.
    7. Zoltán J. Acs & David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann & Georg Licht, 2017. "National systems of innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(5), pages 997-1008, October.
    8. Daisuke Tsuruta, 2020. "SME policies as a barrier to growth of SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1067-1106, April.
    9. Lenihan, Helena & McGuirk, Helen & Murphy, Kevin R., 2019. "Driving innovation: Public policy and human capital," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    10. Simona Mateut, 2018. "Subsidies, financial constraints and firm innovative activities in emerging economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 131-162, January.
    11. Zoltán J. Acs & David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann & Georg Licht, 2016. "National systems of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 527-535, April.
    12. Comin, Diego & Licht, Georg & Pellens, Maikel & Schubert, Torben, 2018. "Do Companies Benefit from Public Research Organizations? The Impact of the Fraunhofer Society in Germany," Papers in Innovation Studies 2018/7, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    13. Bertoni, Fabio & Martí, Jose & Reverte, Carmelo, 2019. "The impact of government-supported participative loans on the growth of entrepreneurial ventures," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 371-384.
    14. Andrea Bellucci & Luca Pennacchio & Alberto Zazzaro, 2019. "R&D Subsidies and Firms’ Debt Financing," CSEF Working Papers 527, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    15. DaEun Kim & Sungchan Yeom & Myeong Chul Ko, 2020. "The Interactive Effect of Government Financial Support and Firms’ Innovative Efforts on Company Growth: A Focus on Climate-Tech SMEs in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-12, November.
    16. Piers Thompson & Wenyu Zang, 2018. "The foreign business and domestic enterprise relationship: Its implications for local entrepreneurial resilience," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 33(1), pages 10-39, February.
    17. Kleine, Marco & Heite, Jonas & Huber, Laura Rosendahl, 2022. "Subsidized R&D collaboration: The causal effect of innovation vouchers on innovation outcomes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    18. Pindado, Emilio & Sánchez, Mercedes & García Martínez, Marian, 2023. "Entrepreneurial innovativeness: When too little or too much agglomeration hurts," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    19. Teng Ma & Ya Liu & Rongyan Jia, 2023. "Multiple Driving Paths of High-Tech SME Resilience from a “Resource–Capability–Environment” Perspective: An fsQCA Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-23, May.
    20. Pengyuan Xu & Meiqing Zhang & Min Gui, 2020. "How R&D Financial Subsidies, Regional R&D Input, and Intellectual Property Protection Affect the Sustainable Patent Output of SMEs: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, February.
    21. Saymon Ricardo Oliveira Sousa & Wesley Vieira Silva & Claudimar Pereira Veiga & Roselaine Ruviaro Zanini, 2020. "Theoretical background of innovation in services in small and medium-sized enterprises: literature mapping," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-26, December.
    22. David B. Audretsch & Nikolaus Seitz & Katherine Margaret Rouch, 2018. "Tolerance and innovation: the role of institutional and social trust," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(1), pages 71-92, March.
    23. Grimsby, Gjermund, 2018. "Partly risky, partly solid – Performance study of public innovation loans," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1344-1365.
    24. Dvouletý Ondřej & Čadil Jan & Mirošník Karel, 2019. "Do Firms Supported by Credit Guarantee Schemes Report Better Financial Results 2 Years After the End of Intervention?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-20, January.

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