RT Journal Article T1 The role of public loans in financing business R&D through the economic cycle A1 Barajas, Ascensión A1 Huergo Orejas, Elena A1 Moreno Martín, María Lourdes AB Should governments increase their efforts in R&D public funding during recession periods? The objective of the present study is to compare the effect of public aid to business R&D on technological inputs and outputs through the economic cycle. We contribute to this literature by examining the effect of one specific instrument of direct public support: selective loans for firms’ R&D projects. For the analysis, we consider Spanish firms supported through this kind of instrument for the periods 2002–2005 and 2010–2012. Our results suggest that the hypothesis of full crowding out of private R&D is rejected in both cycle periods, expansion and recession: public support has positive effects on the resources devoted to R&D activities. However, the effect of public support on some technological outputs depends on the cycle phase: firms supported by selective loans during the crisis are more likely to obtain product innovations. PB Springer SN 1973-820X YR 2021 FD 2021 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/7957 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/7957 LA eng NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) NO Comunidad de Madrid NO Fondo Social Europeo DS Docta Complutense RD 21 abr 2025