Research and development expenses by private societies in Walloon Region : surveys and result

The research carried out for "les Services Fédéraux des Affaires Scientifiques, Techniques et
Culturelles (SSTC)" and for "la Direction Générale des Technologies, de la Recherche et de
l'Energie (DGTRE), Ministère de la Région wallonne" on 1996 and 19997 have allowed us to
achieve the following four objectives :
1. to collaborate on the 1996 survey "Inventaire Permanent du Potentiel Scientifique (IPPS
1996)" to estimate the global R&D potential of the private firms in Walloon Region and in
Brussel-Capital Region in the years 1994 and 1995;
2. to present the results of the 1994 and 1996 IPPS surveys and of the 1993 Innovation-Eurostat
survey to get teachings concerning technological innovation and R&D activities of the Walloon
firms;
3. to give advices concerning the methodologies applied in the surveys ans in the use of their
results;
4. to analyse with appropriate statistical and econometric methods the information obtained for
the year 1995 (1996 IPPS survey) to provide an answer to the two following questions :
- May we accept the hypothesis that technological innovation (R&D, acquisitions of new
technologies, and others) varies according to the region, the sector and the size of the firms'
- Which hypothesis may we formulate concerning the sense and the order of importance of
those variations'