TAČR (Technology Agency of the Czech Republic)
Support for scientific and research activities should be a major tool for stimulating the further growth of developed economies. The most important motivation for supporting R&D activities should be the expected positive impact on competitiveness and the growth resulting from an increased rate of innovation in the economy. More than 60 % of research and development expenditure comes from the private sector. However, such expenditure is strongly influenced by the economic cycle, plummeting in times of economic crisis with the resultant impact of further postponing economic recovery. This is one reason why some developed countries invested large amounts of cash in private research and development activities following the financial crisis in 2009, either through direct support or by other means, such as tax relief.
However, empirically speaking, the impact on intercompany competitiveness and overall economic growth is often inconclusive. To a large extent, this is due to the methods employed, data, conditions in the environment, and the tools used to support R&D activities. Ideally, analyses should answer the question “what was the effect of such R&D support on the employment rate, economic growth, and competitiveness?”, rather than “how much was spent by the private sector due to public intervention?” or “how many patents and utility designs were submitted?” or “how many publications were published?” and so on. Unfortunately, these are the current standards for assessing innovation and they show several major weaknesses. However, when it comes to choosing suitable indicators, we still encounter several problems, namely, what are they and what will the corresponding measurements actually tell us.
