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Last week, the SSTI Weekly Digest offered an overview of the many TBED-focused tax incentives currently under consideration in a number of state legislatures. Tax credits for research and development and for angel capital investment, in particular, appear to be under consideration in many parts of the country. At the same time, there appears to be a renewed emphasis on transparency in the operation and effectiveness of these kinds of tax credits.

Over the past thirty years, state research and development (R&D) tax credits have become one of the most common state tools to boost their local technology economy. Few studies, however, have attempted to provide a comprehensive evaluation of their effectiveness. In this article, SSTI provides an overview of the literature on state R&D credits, examining why states introduce these incentives and whether or not tax credits are an effective policy tool to promote high-tech businesses and jobs.