CREST 4: Effectiveness of the California R&D Tax Credit

This paper, part of a series prepared for the California Report on the Environment for Science and Technology (CREST), provides a review of the nature and effect of the California R&D tax credit, including the rationale for the credit, its history, how it works, how it has changed, and whether it has played a role in encouraging more private R&D in the state. The report concludes with a few recommendations for policy.

The first comprehensive assessment of the state’s science and technology indicators, CREST draws on extensive research and analysis and offers recommendations for how industry leaders, academic planners, and state policy makers can respond more effectively to a high-tech economy. CREST addresses the absence of a regularly executed strategic planning process for the California economy by providing essential information upon which strategic and tactical decisions can be based.