R&D and innovation policy is high on the political agenda in advanced economies. Market and system failures have been identified as reasons for private underinvestment in R&D and innovation and several policy instruments are in use to mitigate these failures. One central instrument of innovation policy are direct subsidies for firm R&D. By using direct project funding governments have the chance to target projects with high social returns and therefore, in theory, i. e. if policy makers can identify projects with high social returns, direct project funding can be an effective instrument to...