The Korean government has raised its investment in Research and Development (R&D) program of private enterprises, focusing on the major firms to secure national competitiveness in the global market. State-funded R&D projects in private sector have drastically risen: average annual growth rate was 23.3 percent between 2005 and 2009, and total amount reached to 2,819 trillion won in 2009. In the cases of conglomerate, the annual growth rate reached 35.5 percent during the same period and it recorded a total of 1.318 trillion won.
Even though subsidies for conglomerate R&D have rapidly increased, some disclose concern for funding those conglomerates which already have affluent resources. However, there was not enough in depth analysis on outcome of government funding. In this regard, the National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) has analyzed government’s fund for conglomerate R&D to inspect whether the government’s subsidies for R&D sector is imperatively required or not.
This paper evaluates the outcomes of government’s subsidies compared to those of internal funding. To accommodate the evaluation, this paper compares the number of patent applications by categorizing their way to be funded: government’s funding and internal funding. In particular, this report focuses on 3,721 private enterprises where published at least one patent application by R&D project, supported with government’s grants from 2006 to 2009.
According to NABO’s evaluation, distinctive differences did not exist between the outcome of government’s and internal funding, not only in achievement but also in ‘new technology for growth engine,’ quotes the Administration. Hence, NABO recommends that the Korean government concentrates its support on the R&D fields where both government and conglomerate have never paid attention.
Even though subsidies for conglomerate R&D have rapidly increased, some disclose concern for funding those conglomerates which already have affluent resources. However, there was not enough in depth analysis on outcome of government funding. In this regard, the National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) has analyzed government’s fund for conglomerate R&D to inspect whether the government’s subsidies for R&D sector is imperatively required or not.
This paper evaluates the outcomes of government’s subsidies compared to those of internal funding. To accommodate the evaluation, this paper compares the number of patent applications by categorizing their way to be funded: government’s funding and internal funding. In particular, this report focuses on 3,721 private enterprises where published at least one patent application by R&D project, supported with government’s grants from 2006 to 2009.
According to NABO’s evaluation, distinctive differences did not exist between the outcome of government’s and internal funding, not only in achievement but also in ‘new technology for growth engine,’ quotes the Administration. Hence, NABO recommends that the Korean government concentrates its support on the R&D fields where both government and conglomerate have never paid attention.
Yoon Sungshik