Abstract

Purpose This study carries out an ex - post evaluation of the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive Law in Chile. Design/methodology/approach A subset of data from the 9th Innovation Survey is chosen, specifically those that were available for the years 2013 and 2014. Then, differences in differences (DID) and matching with differences in differences (MDID) techniques are used to identify the impact of this policy. Findings The results obtained allow us to affirm that the use of the R&D Tax Incentive Law had some positive but very low effects on some components of expenditure for innovation. Also, the positive effect of the tax credits on the total expenditure for innovation identified with MDID disappears when only firms that know the R&D Tax Incentive Law are used as a control group. Originality/value This work provides new evidence to evaluate innovation policies in Latin America, focusing on tax credits that have been much less studied than subsidy programs. Specifically, it is concluded that there is still a wide margin to improve and reformulate the R&D Tax Incentive Law in Chile.