Companies that have applied for so-called innovation vouchers in the past have been up to three times more successful in other subsidy programs. Compared to the comparison sample, they also achieved higher growth in equity and increased their employment. This is the result of an analysis commissioned by the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region to assess the impact of this subsidy title.
Although the Ústí nad Labem region is still in penultimate place in the Czech Republic in terms of GDP, and therefore cohesion programs are absolutely essential here, growth dynamics have increased significantlyIn this indicator, we are in the middle of the "regional" field, i.e. in 7th place. This was significantly contributed by the growth labor productivity in the manufacturing industry (chemistry, engineering) and information technologies. We have caught up with the Liberec Region and have higher growth than the Moravian-Silesian Region. Productivity is therefore increasing in the domains supported by the regional RIS3.
Similarly Investments in employees also grewThis is due to the transition to alternative energy sources, industrial automation (Industry 4.0) and the decarbonization of chemical production. Investment in employees has a direct impact on the previous point, productivity.
These certainly positive results were contributed by the activity of the Region and ICUK, for example the “innovation vouchers” program implemented since 2015. It is certainly known that the Ústí nad Labem Region had a big problem with the use of European funds for industrial transition and innovation development. The above-mentioned program was a response to this, which allowed companies to “touch” cooperation with research institutions and receive support from ICUK in identifying suitable partners. With a relatively low investment of the Region in the amount of 5 million CZK/year, it was achieved significant increase in the use of funds by companieswho participated in the program.
Supported companies submitted projects worth CZK 8.7 billion, on average they submitted three times more projects than non-supported companies. Similarly, the success rate of their applications was three times higher than that of companies that did not apply for an innovation voucher. Within the supported group of companies, almost 84 % submitted at least one application for additional support.
The analysis showed that supported companies achieved higher growth in equity (+7.1 % compared to +5.3 % in the control group) and increased employment by 3.6 %, while in the control group there was a decrease of 0.8 %. Supported companies were thus able to respond better to market challenges and strengthen their competitiveness.
This example shows how well-targeted and relatively inexpensive support implemented by the Region and ICUK improves economic macro data and raises the economic performance of the region necessary for its overall prosperity. Only then a powerful economy supported by quality education, healthcare, transportation and other services leads to the satisfaction of the region's citizens.
