The socio-economic return of the research and development (R&D) support programmes

Abstract

The results of a state of the art review conducted so far, make clear the relevance of addressing the socio-economic return of public investment, in particular the support provided by the European Union programmes to R&D projects at national or regional level. However, according to the theoretical and empirical literature survey and, based on the experience and studies made in different countries and institutions, it seems that a formal appraisal of the socio-economic added value of these support programmes is ultimately needed. Besides that, the consultation of relevant experts and competent authorities seems to be an essential element for the evaluation process. This research work aims to present a participatory methodology that may be used to assess the social impact of the R&D programmes and their contribution to the general social welfare. Based on the literature survey and on the empirical analysis, a hierarchical set of attributes and measurable indicators was chosen in order to characterise qualitatively and quantitatively the R&D programme goals and achievements. These indicators were then presented to a group of experts, chosen from companies and national organisms directly involved in public programmes or in charge of projects supported by these programmes. The final output of this research is a proposal of a final ranking, indicating the relative importance of each attribute and of each individual indicator as a measure for the socio-economic added value of an R&D programme.