New book shows employment gains attributable to Small Business Investment Research (SBIR) awards
Albert N. Link and John T. Scott provide a statistical assessment of the employment growth associated with public support of R&D in small, entrepreneurial firms through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. While on the surface the SBIR program is generally intended to stimulate innovation leading to commercialization, and this is how government and scholars have historically judged the program, Link and Scott suggest that it may be assessed from a different perspective. To them, the extent to which long-term job creation results from public support of R&D should be evaluated. The figure below presents results showing employment growth at four of the five awarding agencies in their study.

“Although on the whole the economic effects, as seen in the overall growth in firm employment attributed to SBIR awards, are not statistically significant, the effects are fairly large absolutely.”

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Employment Growth from Public Support of Innovation in Small Firms
Albert N. Link and John T. Scott
01/2012

Link and Scott provide a statistical assessment of the employment growth associated with public support of R&D in small, entrepreneurial firms through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.