Public Support, R&D and Firm Innovation in Developing Countries: The Case of Morocco

Ouakil, Hicham and Liouaeddine, Mariem and Hosni, Mohamed and Saadi, Ayoub (2026): Public Support, R&D and Firm Innovation in Developing Countries: The Case of Morocco. Published in:

Abstract

The allocation and effectiveness of public subsidies for R&D and innovation are crucial issues for firms and policymakers. This study has two main objectives: first, to identify the determinants of access to public funding for R&D and innovation within firms; second, to quantitatively assess the causal impact of this support on firms’ R&D and innovation activities. We used data from the 2019 World Bank survey of 1,096 Moroccan firms (www. enterprise surveys and applied two econometric approaches. For the first objective, we resorted to logistic regression based on a probit model. The results show that competitive firms, those investing in ICT, and those that employ graduates are more likely to receive public financial support. For the second objective, we used Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to control for selection bias and endogeneity. The results show that government financial support significantly favors the innovation inputs and outputs of Moroccan firms.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Public Support, Firm R&D and Innovation, Impact Assessment, Probit Model, Propensity Score Matching (PSM).
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations; D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D22 - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights

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