Details
- Identification
- Discussion Paper 238
- Publication date
- 15 December 2025
- Authors
- Gábor Kátay | Pálma Mosberger | Francesco Tucci | Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
Description
The paper evaluates the impact of the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) grants on profit-oriented firms’ post-treatment performance.
Highlights:
- FP7 grants lead to substantial performance gains, raising recipient firms’ sales and labour productivity by around 18%.
- The programme does not significantly affect employment, suggesting potential scale-up barriers despite improved productivity.
- Grant effectiveness varies widely, influenced by firms’ financial constraints, project risk profiles, market structure, and the innovation environment.
- The firms that benefit most are smaller, less productive, financially constrained ones in technology-intensive and concentrated markets, particularly those undertaking longer, riskier projects in favourable innovation environments.
Information and identifiers
Discussion Paper 238. December 2025. Brussels. PDF. 40pp. Tab. Graph. Bibliogr. Free.
KC-01-25-056-EN-N (online)
ISBN 978-92-68-31828-7 (online)
ISSN 2443-8022 (online)
doi:10.2765/0105659 (online)
JEL classification: C31, G28, H57, O31.
Disclaimer
European Economy Discussion Papers are written by the staff of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, or by experts working in association with them, to inform discussion on economic policy and to stimulate debate. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of the European Commission.
