Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of government intervention on a firm's innovation activities. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of previous literature, this paper proposes a framework to explain behavioral changes in the firm resulting from government interventions. Using propensity score matching technique, this research tries to estimate the effect of R&D subsidies on Iranian firms (small and medium-sized enterprises and large-sized firms). Findings This paper identified that R&D subsidies have a significant effect on the innovation process. Furthermore, investigations indicate that behavioral variables (innovation capabilities, collaboration agreements and risk-taking) have been partly changed in both SMEs and large firms after subsidizing. The analysis of innovation outputs showed that although R&D subsidies significantly increase the number of new products/services or patents (especially for SMEs), it could not increase the total sale of the firms. These results show that the effect of R&D subsidies has not interestingly covered all variables influencing innovation activities. Research limitations/implications The work used dynamic capability theory, transaction cost theory and behavioral theory of the firm to explain behavioral changes in the firm resulting from government interventions. Practical implications This paper proposes several policy concerns which can help the policymakers to stimulate the innovation support procedures in Iran. Social implications This paper provides insights for improved policymaking which in turn can aid boosting social welfare. Originality/value This paper re-conceptualized behavioral additionality based on firms’ behavioral theories and evaluated the effects of Iranian R&D subsidies on their measures.

La imitación de marca es un enfoque para que las nuevas marcas tengan éxito en el mercado; por otro lado, puede ser destructiva para las marcas desarrolladas al incurrir en grandes pérdidas financieras. Muchos estudios han investigado la imitación y sus factores de efectividad. El presente artículo estudia los factores de efectividad de la imitación y también los clasifica a través de juicios de expertos. Usamos propiedades de números aproximados para clasificar los factores. Al hacerlo, se pidió a tres grupos de expertos, radicados en Irán, que clasificaran los factores que afectan la imitación de la marca. El proceso de clasificación fue implementado a través del método Rough-TOPSIS. Además, los autores aplican el método Fuzzy-TOPSIS y se compararon los resultados. Este estudio reconoce los factores importantes que afectan la imitación de marca y los clasifica según el nivel de significación. Los resultados enfatizan que la legislación es el factor más importante que puede prevenir la imitación de marca y la falsificación. Esta clasificación ayuda a las empresas a mejorar las especificaciones con el fin de obtener seguridad para sus marcas.

Iranian newspapers have traditionally relied on state aids and public budget to survive. The dependency has still lingered amid a change of policy that has affected the newspapers’ financial status. This article invokes the available data on governmental support to examine the political economy of newspapers in Iran during the two decades of 1990s and 2000s. The data were collected from official releases by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance as well as several nonconfidential internal bulletins of the newspaper organizations. Having applied an income-expense analysis, the paper explains the government’s role in newspaper economics and discusses the policy of repurposing the existing subsidies.