The Impact of Direct RDI Aid on the Performance of French Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Public aid for financing innovation, particularly for SMEs, has increased significantly over the last twenty years in France. It is therefore appropriate to ask to what extent aid earmarked for RDI has achieved the goals it was designed for. A review of three recent evaluations of direct RDI aid mainly destined for SMEs concludes that in general there was no windfall effect. It seems that individual and collaborative RDI aid makes it possible for beneficiaries to access complementary financing (both public and private) while boosting their RDI efforts (R&D spending, R&D investments, R&D jobs, and other employees). By financing phases that come earlier in the innovation process, collaborative projects seem to significantly stimulate the patenting performance of SMEs and ISEs, although these effects vary according to the form of collaboration and the kind of partner involved. An effect on economic development (total sales, value added, etc.) is also visible, but only for the individual aid programs.