ABSTRACT
In 1993, the Australian Bureau of Industry Economics published the results of an evaluation it undertook of income tax assistance for research and development (R&D) in Australia.1 The evaluation findings were based in large part on data obtained from a survey of R&D performers. That evaluation considered, among other things, the impact of the Australian R&D tax concession on corporate R&D spending in Australia and on the innovativeness and competitiveness of Australian firms. The evaluation also assessed the costeffectiveness of the R&D tax concession in promoting incremental R&D (i.e. additional spending on R&D that is attributable directly to the tax concession) and the spillover benefits associated with incremental R&D.
