Launched in 2003, the Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) programme is a secondment programme funded by Enterprise Singapore and administered by A*STAR, where A*STAR’s research scientists and engineers are seconded to local enterprises to help them build in-house research and development (R&D) capabilities and grow their business revenue. This study evaluates the impact of the T-Up programme on participating firms’ outcomes.

Our findings show that firms participating in the T-Up programme spent 65.4 per cent more on R&D and were 8.4 percentage-points more likely to conduct R&D in a given year compared to a control group. They also correspondingly enjoyed 44.3 per cent higher revenue and 21.9 per cent higher employment than the control group. These findings suggest that the T-Up programme has been effective in supporting local firms to upgrade their R&D capabilities and grow their business revenue.

The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) or the Government of Singapore.

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