The Challenges in the Evaluation of Behavioural Additionality of Innovation Policy

Abstract

Measuring average impacts of public interventions, which is a dominant approach in the evaluation of public programmes has little to offer to inform policy making. The ultimate goal of innovation policy is not the numbers of patents obtained or applied neither employment growth in the supported firms in terms of R&D personnel, although they can be important factors influencing the success of the firm’s innovative activity. Innovation policy is about changing the behaviour of supported firms.