The Impact of Government Innovation Subsidies on the Survival of SMEs in Korea

The Impact of Government Innovation Subsidies on the Survival of SMEs in Korea

This study analyzed the effect of the government R&D subsidy program on long-term firm survival. In order to estimate the average treatment effect for the treated group, we used the survival analysis and matching method by constituting a comprehensive dataset of more than 90,000 observations. The analysis results show that the government R&D subsidy has a negative impact on long-term firm survival. In particular, not only the subsidy does not have a statistically significant effect on firm survival in the relatively short-term, the survival probability of the subsidized firms is statistically significantly lower than the non-subsidized firms after six years. These results can be seen as weakening the justification of government R&D support. There may be problems in the subsidy policy itself and the process of selection of subsidy awardees; however, the more fundamental problem is that the subsidy policy is concluded as the one-time event. Admittedly, it would be difficult for the government to precisely manage the subsidized projects over a long term period. However, in the case of a project in which short-term performance is detected, it would be necessary to provide a step-by-step support to strengthen the firm's competitiveness through further support and continuous development of performance. Of course, mid- and long-term evaluations of subsidy support policy should be performed in parallel with such phased support.