What are counterfactual impact evaluations teaching us about enterprise and innovation support?

Since 2008, the Evaluation Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General (DG) for Regional and Urban Policy has been promoting counterfactual impact evaluation, ie the use of comparison/control groups.The studies in the current paper enable us to examine over EUR 40 billion given to 235 000 firms under 12 support schemes in seven different EU Member States. Effects are considered in terms of investment, productivity, employment and innovation. While research continues, a goal of the current paper is to summarise findings in time to inform preparation of the 2014-20 programmes – EUR 80 billion is being investing in enterprise and innovation support in the 2007-13 period and it seems likely that such support will figure prominently in 2014-20.