Finance

Internal medicine

Business

Recession

Intervention (counseling)

Business development

Biology

Bidding

Psychiatry

Macroeconomics

Logistic regression

Marketing

Odds

Paleontology

Psychology

Economics

Small business

Context (archaeology)

Entrepreneurship

Medicine

Small Business Economics

Impact evaluations of business development grants targeting young firms have been somewhat neglected in the literature. While most research studies focus on the impact of research and development grants, a larger percentage of young firms would benefit from grants that assist them in business development activities. In this paper, we examine the impact of small business development grants on young small firm survival, turnover growth, labor growth, and access to external finances. We study this topic in the context of a long recession in Croatia (2009 to 2014), which makes it possible to better observe the effect of the public instrument intervention. Results show positive effect on firm survival and on obtaining long-term bank loans and no significant effects on firm performance. The grant scheme was most successful for firms newest to the market.

Bidding against the odds? The impact evaluation of grants for young micro and small firms during the recession