Evaluation of Subsidy Programmes

This research group focuses on two main research questions: (i) What is the causal effect of cooperative innovation activities on the performance of firms and regions? (ii) What are the causal effects of public Research and Development (R&D) support schemes on the performance of firms and regions? The first research question concerns the dynamics of firms and regions as a result of their different innovation activities. We apply a micro-based integrative perspective on innovative activities which allows identifying causal effects of cooperative activities on specific outcomes (e. g., patent applications, scientific publications, employment growth, or productivity growth). Concerning the second research question, recent studies mainly focus on the evaluation of one specific subsidy scheme. Research in this group aims to overcome this shortcoming by considering various support schemes. Indicators for the firms’ success are (amongst others) patent applications and employment growth. The results allow insights for the future design of innovation support schemes.

IWH Subsidy Database

Centre for Evidence-based Policy Advice (IWH-CEP)

Research Cluster
Economic Dynamics and Stability

Your contact

PD Dr Mirko Titze
PD Dr Mirko Titze
Mitglied - Department Präsidialbereich
Send Message +49 345 7753-861

EXTERNAL FUNDING

09.2019 ‐ 09.2022

Establishing Evidence-based Evaluation Methods for Subsidy Programmes in Germany (EVA-KULT)

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

The project aims at expanding the Centre for Evidence-based Policy Advice at the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH-CEP).

see project's webpage

PD Dr Mirko Titze

01.2018 ‐ 12.2020

Networked growth - Innovative Saxony-Anhalt through digital business models (Competence Center 4.0)

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWI)

PD Dr Mirko Titze

01.2017 ‐ 12.2018

Political Participation in Eastern Germany

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWI)

Dr Matthias Brachert

12.2015 ‐ 11.2018

Socio-economic Effects of Research on Innovative Approaches for POC Diagnostics

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Part of the EXASENS project. Coordinated by the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT) in Jena, nine Leibniz institutes are working together on researching point-of-care (POC) technology for the prediction and diagnosis of chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases. See press release.

Dr Matthias Brachert

02.2017 ‐ 02.2018

The Importance of Non-University Research Institutions for the Development of Firms and Regions (Be_For_Reg-Projekt)

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

PD Dr Mirko Titze

01.2015 ‐ 12.2016

Evaluation of the "Joint Task 'Improving the Regional Economic Structure'" in the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt

Investitionsbank Sachsen-Anhalt

PD Dr Mirko Titze

Refereed Publications

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Identifying Industrial Clusters from a Multidimensional Perspective: Methodical Aspects with an Application to Germany

Matthias Brachert Mirko Titze Alexander Kubis

in: Papers in Regional Science, No. 2, 2011

Abstract

If regional development agencies assume the cluster concept to be an adequate framework to promote regional growth and competitiveness, it is necessary to identify industrial clusters in a comprehensive manner. Previous studies used a diversity of methods to identify the predominant concentrations of economic activity in one industrial sector in a region. This paper is based on a multidimensional approach developed by Titze et al. With the help of the combination of concentration measures and input–output methods they were able to identify horizontal and vertical dimensions of industrial clusters. This paper aims to refine this approach by using a superior measure of spatial concentration and by integrating information about spatial interdependence of industrial cluster structures to contribute to a more adequate framework for industrial cluster identification.

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Die Identifikation horizontaler und vertikaler industrieller Clusterstrukturen in Deutschland – Ein neues Verfahren und erste empirische Ergebnisse

Mirko Titze Matthias Brachert Alexander Kubis

in: Raumforschung und Raumordnung, No. 5, /6 2009

Abstract

. If regional development agencies assume the cluster concept to be an adequate framework to promote regional growth and competitiveness, it is necessary to identify industrial clusters in a comprehensive manner. Previous studies used a diversity of methods starting with specific regional case studies, input-output methods and different concentration measures. This article presents a new instrument in empirical cluster research – the Qualitative Input-Output Analysis –, which offers the possibility to identify industrial cluster in conjunction with concentration measures. Especially, this method allows the combination of an identified critical mass of regional firms with the necessity of interaction of these firms within an input-output framework. Applying this method to Germany’s “Arbeitsmarktregionen” we find that 103 “Arbeitsmarkregionen“ show first signs of horizontal industrial clusters, while only 28 regions are able to attract vertical industrial clusters. 139 “Arbeitsmarktregionen” did not show signs of industrial clusters according to the research design.

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Investitionszuschüsse nur bei Schaffung von Arbeitsplätzen? Schlussfolgerungen aus der Förderung eines Investitionsprojektes über die Gemeinschaftsaufgabe im Land Brandenburg

Mirko Titze

in: Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, 2009

Abstract

The Joint Task “For the Improvement of the Regional Economic Structure“ is one of the most important Instruments of the German regional policy. This instrument is applied in regions with strong structural problems and aims to reduce unemployment. The instruments institutional framework demands the creation of additional permanent posts. This paper explores that these requirements can provoke inefficient combinations of production factors. The reasons for that problem can be seen in market failures as well as political disappointments. The government of each federal state has an incentive to demand permanent posts as much as possible because public revenue can equal the government expenditures after a relative short time period due to employment and production effects. The institutional framework of the German financial equalization scheme between the federal states contributes to that problem too - the expenditures for subsidization can be balanced by perequations paid by the other federal states.

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A Professor Like Me: The Influence of Instructor Gender on College Achievement

Florian Hoffmann Philip Oreopoulos

in: Journal of Human Resources, No. 2, 2009

Abstract

Many wonder whether teacher gender plays an important role in higher education by influencing student achievement and subject interest. The data used in this paper help identify average effects from male and female college students assigned to male or female teachers. We find instructor gender plays only a minor role in determining college student achievement. Nevertheless, the small effects provide evidence that gender role models matter to some college students. A same-sex instructor increases average grade performance by at most 5 percent of its standard deviation and decreases the likelihood of dropping a class by 1.2 percentage points.

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Soll die Höhe von Investitionszuschüssen an die Einführung von Umweltmanagementsystemen gekoppelt werden?

Mirko Titze

in: List Forum für Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik, No. 1, 2009

Abstract

Economic policy has to reconcile a very complex set of objectives. Often, there is a trade-off between these policy targets. This paper focuses on objectives related to the improvement of the regional economic structure and the environmental protection. In Germany, regional policy is pursued among other things using investment grants within the Joint Task framework. At the federal state level, the Länder select and support sustainable investment projects. Some federal states have changed their investment support framework and aim for additional political targets such as environmental protection. Politicians in the Free State of Saxony discuss the option to offer an addition to the basic investment grant. This applies to plants that operate a certified environmental management system. Related to this current political debate this paper describes the effects of such regulatory measures. The article shows that under a particular set of circumstances the envisaged regulation actually could lower the overall level of supported investment and therefore would not stimulate the introduction of environmental management systems. Hence both political objectives would not be fully reconciled. The alternative way could be a direct support of environmental management systems as already introduced in selected other Länder.

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Working Papers

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Who Benefits from Place-based Policies? Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data

Philipp Grunau Florian Hoffmann Thomas Lemieux Mirko Titze

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 11, 2024

Abstract

We study the wage and employment effects of a German place-based policy using a research design that exploits conditionally exogenous EU-wide rules governing the program parameters at the regional level. The place-based program subsidizes investments to create jobs with a subsidy rate that varies across labor market regions. The analysis uses matched data on the universe of establishments and their employees, establishment-level panel data on program participation, and regional scores that generate spatial discontinuities in program eligibility and generosity. These rich data enable us to study the incidence of the place-based program on different groups of individuals. We find that the program helps establishments create jobs that disproportionately benefit younger and less-educated workers. Funded establishments increase their wages but, unlike employment, wage gains do not persist in the long run. Employment effects estimated at the local area level are slightly larger than establishment-level estimates, suggesting limited spillover effects. Using subsidy rates as an instrumental variable for actual subsidies indicates that it costs approximately EUR 25,000 to create a new job in the economically disadvantaged areas targeted by the program.

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Employment Effects of Investment Grants and Firm Heterogeneity – Evidence from a Staggered Adoption Approach

Eva Dettmann Mirko Titze Antje Weyh

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 6, 2023

Abstract

This study estimates the establishment-level employment effects of investment grants in Germany. In addition to the average treatment effect for the treated, we focus on discrimination in the funding rules as potential source of effect heterogeneity. We combine the difference-in-differences approach of Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) that explicitly models variation in treatment timing with a ties matching at the cohort level. We observe a positive effect of investment grants on employment development in the full sample. The subsample analysis yields strong evidence for effect heterogeneity due to firm characteristics and the economic environment.

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flexpaneldid: A Stata Toolbox for Causal Analysis with Varying Treatment Time and Duration

Eva Dettmann Alexander Giebler Antje Weyh

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 3, 2020

Abstract

The paper presents a modification of the matching and difference-in-differences approach of Heckman et al. (1998) for the staggered treatment adoption design and a Stata tool that implements the approach. This flexible conditional difference-in-differences approach is particularly useful for causal analysis of treatments with varying start dates and varying treatment durations. Introducing more flexibility enables the user to consider individual treatment periods for the treated observations and thus circumventing problems arising in canonical difference-in-differences approaches. The open-source flexpaneldid toolbox for Stata implements the developed approach and allows comprehensive robustness checks and quality tests. The core of the paper gives comprehensive examples to explain the use of the commands and its options on the basis of a publicly accessible data set.

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Who Benefits from GRW? Heterogeneous Employment Effects of Investment Subsidies in Saxony Anhalt

Eva Dettmann Mirko Titze Antje Weyh

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 27, 2017

Abstract

The paper estimates the plant level employment effects of investment subsidies in one of the most strongly subsidized German Federal States. We analyze the treated plants as a whole, as well as the influence of heterogeneity in plant characteristics and the economic environment. Modifying the standard matching and difference-in-difference approach, we develop a new procedure that is particularly useful for the evaluation of funding programs with individual treatment phases within the funding period. Our data base combines treatment, employment and regional information from different sources. So, we can relate the absolute effects to the amount of the subsidy paid. The results suggest that investment subsidies have a positive influence on the employment development in absolute and standardized figures – with considerable effect heterogeneity.

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Identifying the Effects of Place-based Policies – Causal Evidence from Germany

Matthias Brachert Eva Dettmann Mirko Titze

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 18, 2016

Abstract

The German government provides discretionary investment grants to structurally weak regions to reduce regional disparities. We use a regression discontinuity design that exploits an exogenous discrete jump in the probability of receiving investment grants to identify the causal effects of the investment grant on regional outcomes. We find positive effects for regional gross value-added and productivity growth, but no effects for employment and gross wage growth.

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