중동부유럽

A ‘Smarter Europe’ is a top priority of the European Union (EU), the core of which is innovation, economic transformation, and more competitive small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These themes account for a huge part of EU spending in the past, present, and (likely) future programming periods. Despite high expenditures, impacts on the economy often appear modest or are not well understood. EU, national, and regional policymakers want to know where and how to invest to get the highest return on investment (ROI). This project responds to a request from the European Commission to develop and pilot methodologies to measure and improve innovation and SME support instruments. Poland was selected as the pilot country, since it is the largest recipient of EU funding, and has a rich set of support measures and implementing bodies. Drawing on the World Bank’s framework for Public Expenditure Reviews in Science, Technology, and Innovation, the project starts by examining the inputs to the innovation ecosystem, including economic priorities, government policies, and support instruments. It then analyzes the functioning of the support instruments, and ultimately the impacts on firm performance (that is, the return on investment and effectiveness). A combined understanding of these different dimensions gives public authorities a view into where and how innovation and SME support mechanisms can be improved. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive and robust analysis of EU support to SMEs and innovation to date.