Evaluation of the economic effects of large R&D programmes: the case of the European space programme

The methodology developed by the Bureau d'Economie Theorique et Appliquee (BETA) for the economic evaluation of the indirect effects of large public R&D programmes is described, with special reference to space projects. It is designed to provide a minimal estimation, with the use of direct interviews with the managers of firms and taking into account a large range of possible indirect effects. One of the main values of the approach is to place intangible effects alongside those of a purely quantitative kind. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.