Reports > Final report on Benchmark analysis of effectiveness of SME support measures in Europe

Deliverable 2.2 - Final report on Benchmark analysis of effectiveness of SME support measures in Europe (28th February 2012)

This document (59 pages) places GPrix research findings and policy recommendations within the context of the wider EU; in particular, with respect to: the continued importance of traditional sectors in manufacturing employment; trends in innovation support; uses of innovation support by traditional sector SMEs; lack of evaluation of programme effectiveness; and good practice in innovation support measures for traditional sector SMEs.

The following are some of the main findings supported by both GPrix and the wider contextual analysis in this report.

• The regions selected for the GPrix project represent the diversity of situations concerning traditional industry in the EU. Traditional industries still represent quite high shares of activity in the regional economic structure of all 7 GPrix regions. Similarly, traditional industries are still important in most European regions with shares of around 40-50 percent of manufacturing employment.
• From analysing national innovation policies as reported under the TrendChart initiative some trends emerge, including: streamlining and improving the accessibility of innovation support delivery; shift towards innovation oriented policy rather than R&D policy; introduction of ‘mini-mixes’, which combine different kinds of support in one programme; and reduction of regulatory and administrative barriers. Especially noteworthy is that over the last two years the rate of implementing demand-side innovation policies at regional level has increased, and also that traditional ‘supply-side measures’ have changed and often incorporated more demand-oriented aspects, e.g. by adopting a broader concept of innovation to support marketing, internationalisation and design activities.
• The analysis of data from the Innobarometer 2007 shows that compared to firms in other manufacturing sectors firms in traditional industries have received less of the following: direct support to finance R&D based innovation projects; subsidy for buildings or other infrastructure for innovation activities; and tax reductions for R&D expenditures. Conversely, firms in traditional industries have received more support from the following measures: subsidies for acquiring machinery, equipment or software; attending or participating in trade fairs or trade missions; networking with companies; and information on market needs, market conditions, new regulations, etc. This profile of usage or needs for firms in traditional industries in Europe matches the results of the GPrix survey.
• As has been identified in the GPrix regions, when the practice in evaluation of programmes in other regions in Europe is considered, the conclusion remains that most programmes at regional level are not evaluated properly. Accordingly:
• not much information is available to assess whether programmes can be considered to be cases of good practice; and
• it is almost never possible to compare programmes and to benchmark.
• Concerning the design features of innovation support programmes, GPrix research supports increased emphasis on demand-led programmes, which are a way to achieve customised projects for SMEs. Demand-led programmes are more generic than specific and can be characterized as follows:
• covering the overall innovation life cycle from the first idea to market entry;
• broad focus on different innovation types (product, process, organisation and marketing - i.e. both technological and non-technological innovation);
• wide eligibility of different costs; and
• flexibility in using the applied budget (internal budget shifts).

Given the above mentioned good practice features resulting from the Gprix analysis in the seven regions in focus, good practice approaches and individual policy measures in other regions in the wider EU which meet these needs are described.

Full report: Final report on Benchmark analysis of effectiveness of SME support measures in Europe