Study of business participation and entrepreneurship in Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (FP7 and Horizon 2020) : executive summary

Europe 2020 called for closer inter-sectoral cooperation in research and innovation, as well as identified entrepreneurship as one of the key preconditions for success. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) under Horizon 2020 brought a number of novelties, which included an increased emphasis on innovation, and further strengthened involvement of the private sector in EU research and innovation policy. To assess the participation of businesses in the MSCA and the contribution of this programme to entrepreneurship, the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission launched this study. The "Study of business participation and entrepreneurship in Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (FP7 and Horizon2020)" was undertaken in the wider framework of an ex-post evaluation of the FP7 MCA and an interim evaluation of the MSCA part of Horizon 2020. The study had two objectives: to analyse business participation patterns and the underlying motivations/barriers for companies to participate in the MSCA projects, differentiating between large companies and SMEs as well as between different types of the MSCA; to explore quantitatively and qualitatively the impact of the MSCA on innovation, entrepreneurship, job creation and inter-sectoral collaboration. The study was carried out by PPMI - Public Policy and Management Institute (Lithuania) together with AIT - Austrian Institute of Technology (Austria) and the Optimity Advisors (the UK). The study relied on the evidence gathered and analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods, including desk research, statistical analysis of the monitoring data, a large-scale case study programme (50 case studies of the MSCA projects involving businesses and cross-case analysis), 304 interviews with various types of interviewees (EU and national-level stakeholders, business participants in the MSCA and representatives of unsuccessful business applicants), as well as surveys of the MSCA fellows and participating organisations. The study was organised according to six sets of questions on the following issues: 1. assessment of business participation patterns in the MSCA (FP7 and Horizon 2020); 2. assessment of business participation impact on job creation and career development (FP7); 3. assessment of business participation impact on innovation (FP7); 4. assessment of inter-sectoral collaboration impact on businesses (FP7); 5. assessment of how the development of entrepreneurship is addressed in the context of MSCA training (FP7 and Horizon 2020); 6. assessment of the impact of MSCA on entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship (FP7 and Horizon 2020). Policy recommendations stemming from the study will provide guidance for the European Commission on how to widen business participation and best support entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship in the MSCA, as well as how to increase the quality and effectiveness of business participation with a view to boosting the impact on jobs and growth.