Is there an impact of the Structural Funds in innovation on business performance? Analysis through the ERDF-Innterconecta programme in Andalusia

Abstract Andalusia, a Spanish Autonomous Community with a Convergence objective under the European Union, has had to manage a relevant volume of European resources for regional innovation throughout the last two European Programming periods, namely 2007–2013 and 2014–2020. For this reason, studying the impact on business results of European Funds for innovation is key to understanding the policy effects. This is why the ERDF-Innterconecta programme (the largest programme financed to support business innovation in Spain), belonging to the Technology Fund and the Smart Growth Programme, is analyzed. The proposed analysis seeks to identify whether there has been an impact of the subsidies on Andalusian companies. In this sense, two indicators have been studied: annual results and profitability. To this end, the beneficiary companies have been studied according to their size, participation in innovation and role in the financed projects, which constitutes an original research approach. The study shows poor results for the participating companies, which would indicate a wide margin for improvement in the planning and execution of these policies.