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Selected results
In the period between 2011-2019, small enterprises
(according to the EU classification) represented 37%-
4. RTI Evaluation Culture and Practice
191
48% of the enterprises receiving funding, medi-
um-sized enterprises made up 13%-25% and large
enterprises 36%-41%. When looking at the number of
projects implemented, however, these statistics shift
in favour of large enterprises, which implemented
45% of all projects (this figure was 40% for small en-
terprises and 15% for medium-sized enterprises).
Participation by small enterprises increased signifi-
cantly over time (primarily at the expense of medi-
um-sized enterprises), especially in knowledge-in-
tensive services. The reason for this is the increased
participation by small enterprises in the Thematic
and Structural Programmes (innovation networks),
with the proportion of small enterprises traditionally
being high in the General Programmes. It stands to
reason that large enterprises handle larger projects
in terms of volume, meaning that these projects ac-
count for around 62% of the total volume of funding
examined of approximately €630 million.
The shift in the number of funding recipients in
particular from medium-sized enterprises to small
enterprises partly reflects an incipient structural
change in the Austrian economy, i.e. the increase in
knowledge-intensive services. While the traditionally
strong area of medium high-technology in Austria ac-
counts for a constant share of the projects funded by
the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), pro-
viders of knowledge-intensive services have signifi-
cantly increased their share in the FFG portfolio in
recent years.
The FFG contributes to a widening of the R&D-driv-
en corporate basis in that, for an average of 10% of
project participants, project funding from the Austri-
an Research Promotion Agency (FFG) represents the
first R&D activity in the company. For 70% of those
companies engaging in R&D for the first time, the
funded project acted as an impetus for further R&D
projects within four years.
At the same time, there is a slow but steady shift
of projects from existing to new areas of activity of
the companies (from 32% to 38% of projects), with
projects from small and medium-sized companies be-
ing more often the stimulus for new activities than
those from large companies. This means project
funding tends to support existing specialisations in
larger companies, while it tends to benefit new appli-
cations in smaller companies.
According to the 2019 survey, in 48% of the proj-
ects the results were exploited on a commercial ba-
sis within four years of project completion (process
innovations were implemented, new products or ser-
vices adapted etc.). This represents a decrease of 20
percentage points since 2011. At the same time, the
share of projects with results that will be exploited in
the future has increased from around 7% to 15%, and
the share purely involving knowledge gained or with
no objective to put them to commercial use is on av-
erage 28%, although there are some big differences
between the different programmes. In terms of com-
pany size, large and medium-sized enterprises show
the best prospects of benefitting commercially on a
long-term average (57% and 54% respectively), al-
though smaller companies also exploit almost 50% of
the project results within four years after the end of
the project. However, for all size categories there is
an overall trend towards longer periods before com-
mercial exploitation is possible.
The reasons for this can range from whether an
R&D project in the portfolio has a practical applica-
tion or not to the general demand situation in the
market. In 2011 the General Programmes still ac-
counted for 89% of all project participations, but
they have fallen to 42%-46% in recent years. The
shift is mainly in favour of the Thematic and Structur-
al Programmes, which are based on different inter-
vention logic and which sometimes support higher
risk projects that are not necessarily intended to
achieve rapid commercial exploitation.
The involvement of research institutions in the
Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) funding
portfolio increased significantly due to the expan-
sion of programmes involving a duty to cooperate.
The R&D projects resulted in follow-up projects in
more than 60% of cases, with around 45% of these
also funded by the Austrian Research Promotion
Agency (FFG); funding was provided as part of an
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