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Impact evaluation of an SME program. Attila Béres National Development Agency Hungary. Program characteristics. Grants to SMEs for modernization Purchase of equipments Maximum grant 25 M Ft (~100 000 €) Private contribution min. 50% ~9000 applicants ~3500 beneficiaries
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Impact evaluation of an SME program Attila Béres National Development Agency Hungary
Program characteristics • Grants to SMEs for modernization • Purchase of equipments • Maximum grant 25 M Ft (~100 000 €) • Private contribution min. 50% • ~9000 applicants • ~3500 beneficiaries • Assistance approved 42 Bn Ft (~170 Mn €)
Questions • Did assisted SMEs invest more? • Differences in the growth of tangible assets between the treated and the control groups • Did assisted SMEs grow faster? • Differences in the growth of net sales between the treated and the control groups
Groups of interest • Did not apply for grants • Control group: 62 963 SMEs • Applied but did not win • „Treated” group: 1 134 SMEs • Applied for grants and won • Treated group: 981 SMEs In total approx. 8% of Hungarian SMEs
Methodologies • Simple regression • have to control for all important variables • Difference-in-differences (DiD) • unobservable factors are time invariant • Propensity Score Matching (PSM) • controls for time-varying unobservables
Summary • Assisted SMEs were bigger and grew faster even before the program • Significant effects on investments even in the short run • No significant effects on growth (at least not in the short run) • Significant effects on investment even for those SMEs, which applied for but did not win
Limitations • This method is applicable only for measuring the effects on the assisted SMEs • Can not catch multiplicator or nation-wide impacts • To catch those impacts one need macroeconomic models
Impact evaluation sources • OECD Framework for the Evaluation of SME and Entrepreneurship Policies and Programmes • NONIE • http://www.worldbank.org/ieg/nonie/index.html • American Evaluation Association • http://www.eval.org/ • Canadian Evaluation Society • http://www.evaluationcanada.ca/ • Institute for Fiscal Studies • http://www.ifs.org.uk/ • …
Thank you for your attention! E-mail: attila.beres@nfu.gov.hu Web: www.nfu.gov.hu