Evaluation of Behavioural Additionality of Innovation Policy

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2011The concept of behavioural additionality proposes to study analytically what happens inside the firm as a result of the government intervention by asking the question "what difference does policy make in the behaviour of the firms it supports." Despite the concept's increasing popularity and promising potential, the theoretical background of behavioural additionality is still under-developed. This paper aims to provide behavioural additionality with a sound background by asking two intertwined questions: (i) how is behavioural additionality defined in the scholarly literature and evaluation practice, (ii) how is it evaluated (i.e. what kind of methods and approaches are used in its evaluation). By answering these questions, the paper will provide a new approach in understanding behavioural additionality and consequently a framework in evaluating the concept