What is it about?

This article examines the role of enterprise policy and R&D subsidy schemes in supporting high-tech Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises, by examining a case study of South Korea.

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Why is it important?

The study highlights the critical role of ‘bottom-up’ policy approaches to improve the effectiveness of high-tech policy; especially the interactions and networking between policy-practitioners and entrepreneurs. It also shows the importance of taking in-depth account of the differing perspectives of those involved in developing and implementing a policy.

Perspectives

As Dr Park and myself argue, these findings suggest first, that there was a mismatch in the conceptualizations of entrepreneurship, with policymakers and policy-practitioners (those implementing policies locally) focusing on thinking about entrepreneurship as the event of starting-up a business and entrepreneurs focus more on innovation. Second, while all groups feel the policy was beneficial, policymakers and policy-practitioners argue it is necessary to have a strict implementation process so-as-to deliver the subsidy fairly across many SMEs. In contrast, entrepreneurs consider such stringent and complicated policy implementation, and policy discontinuities, as impeding the R&D performance of SMEs. Third, although perspectives varied, all believed that flexibility in the policy implementation process is required to improve policy efficacy.

Professor Emeritus Ronald McQuaid
University of Stirling

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This page is a summary of: Enterprise policies and R&D support for high-tech SMEs: a multi-perspective approach, Policy Studies, October 2023, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/01442872.2023.2268530.
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