The purpose of the project is evaluate the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM) with a focus on funding that has been provided in accordance with the funding guidelines that have been in force since 2020. The evaluation includes a target achievement analysis, an impact analysis and an analysis of the economic efficiency of funding activities. The contributions of the ZEW include in particular the implementation of a standardized online survey of beneficiaries, the target achievement analysis based on a comparison of structural characteristics of the beneficiaries with the target groups of ZIM (R&D-active companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, universities and non-university research institutions), the counterfactual Impact analysis for the target group companies (with the help of control group data from the Mannheim Innovation Panel) as well as an effectiveness analysis (cost-benefit analysis).

The key results of the evaluation as well as the recommendations for the future design of the ZIM funding programme are presented in the final report and also in the summary. The questionnaires for the online survey of grant recipients and unsuccessful applicants from companies and research institutions can be found in the document "Annex Online Survey" (only available in German).