R&D tax incentives in EU countries: does the impact vary with firm size?

This paper studies the effect of R&D tax incentives on the research activity of manufacturing firms based in France, Italy, Spain and the UK, over the period 2007–2009. Using a matching procedure, we show that, in all the examined countries but Spain, R&D tax incentives induced a statistically significant increase in the intensity of R&D expenses over sales. However, this effect is driven only by the behaviour of small firms. By assessing the benefit-cost ratio of R&D tax policies, we find evidence of substantial additional effects in Italy and the UK.