Bettina Peters (ZEW) 22.9.2022

It is our pleasure to host Prof. Dr. Bettina Peters (ZEW) who will present on Thursday September 22, 2022 at 12:45 in room RB437 about her research on the topic “Misappropriation of R&D Subsidies: Estimating Treatment Effects with One-Sided Non-Compliance”.

BIO: Prof. Dr. Bettina Peters is Deputy Head at ZEW’s “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics” Research Department and Honorary Professor in Innovation at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance at the University of Luxembourg. Her main research interests cover the economics of innovation at the firm-level, in particular productivity and employment effects of innovation, dynamics in firm innovation behaviour, and the internationalization of R&D activities. Her research has been published in various academic journals like RAND Journal of Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, International Journal of Industrial Organization, or Research Policy.

Abstract:

We investigate the misappropriation of R&D subsidies and evaluate its consequences for policy effectiveness. Using Chinese firm-level data for 2001-2011, we identify that 42% of grantees misused R&D subsidies, accounting for 53% of total R&D subsidies. Misappropriation leads to a substantial loss of the causal impact of R&D subsidies, as measured by the difference of the intention-to-treat effect and complier average causal effect. Results show that R&D expenditures could have been stimulated beyond the subsidy amount (additionality), but noncompliance has resulted in medium-level partial crowding out. Overall, misappropriation has reduced the effectiveness of China’s R&D policy by more than half.