CSIL carried out a synthesis of impact and effectiveness evaluations of business incentives implemented in Italy on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT). The project contributed to the “Rationalisation and Simplification of Business Incentives” reform part of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR, Mission 1 – Component 2), which aims to map, systematise, and streamline incentive measures to enhance their effectiveness and reduce overlaps. The study provides an overarching picture of how public incentives have performed in supporting the production system, particularly across objectives such as investment, R&D and innovation, internationalisation, entrepreneurship, employment, access to finance, sustainability, and training.
The research aimed to map and systematise existing evaluations of central government schemes and, where relevant, comparable regional and EU/international measures. To do so, CSIL developed a common information collection framework and database structure for consistent evidence extraction and querying. This framework underpins a horizontal comparative analysis designed to identify what works, for whom, and under which conditions.
Through this synthesis, CSIL identified over one hundred evaluation studies, codified their findings into a structured evidence map, and analysed cross-cutting results. The final report consolidates key insights, highlighting both effective practices and persistent challenges such as administrative burden, limited accessibility for smaller firms, and the heterogeneity of evaluation methods.
The project supports the Government’s ongoing rationalisation of the incentive system, as foreseen by the enabling law of 27 October 2023. The results offer actionable recommendations for policy design and implementation, ensuring that future incentive measures are more coherent, efficient, and evidence-based.
📑 Final report with horizontal synthesis and comparative findings (in Italian).