Research and analysis

Private Sector R&D Investment Policies

A literature review covering a range of policy instruments from 5 OECD countries: France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States.

From:
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Published
14 April 2025

Documents

Private Sector R&D Investment Policies

Ref: Research number: DSIT 2025/007

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Ref: Research number: DSIT 2025/007

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Details

This report suggests that policies aiming to boost private sector R&D investment need to help businesses overcome 4 key barriers:

  • low appropriability
  • scale
  • radicalness
  • uncertain payoffs

R&D support requires both direct incentives (focused on subsidising R&D in firms) and indirect incentives (focused on supporting wider knowledge generation and non-financial support).

The report also highlights 15 exemplars of good practice from the 5 countries in scope. These policies are mostly sector non-specific.

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Published 14 April 2025

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