Evaluation of deadweight spending in regional enterprise financing

Abstract

The problem of deadweight spending has been previously studied using diverse methods. However, regional variations in deadweight spending have not yet been considered. An evaluation of regional business subsidies in Finland during 2000–2003 is conducted. The analysis reveals regional differences in deadweight spending in proportional and, particularly, in monetary terms. Deadweight spending is dependent on many firm-, project- and regional-level factors, which also largely account for regional differences. However, there seems to be some regional variation in deadweight spending that originates from differences in the subsidy processes among regions.