Venture capital investment strategies under financing constraints: Evidence from the 2008 financial crisis

This paper employs the 2008 financial crisis as an empirical setting to examine how investment strategies of venture capitalists (VCs) vary in the presence of a liquidity supply shock, and what the performance implications of these strategies are for their portfolio startups. We show that while, on aggregate, funded startups receive no less financing during the financial crisis than in non-crisis times, VCs allocate relatively more resources to startups operating in the VCs’ core sectors. We show that this skew allocation follows from VCs choosing to double down on their core-sector investing, rather than by a changed mix of investors or startups during the financial crisis. These effects are strongest for early-stage startups, for which information problems are most severe. Furthermore, these results are driven by the investment strategies of more-experienced VCs. Building on these findings, we find superior ex post performance among crisis-funded portfolio startups operating in more-experienced VCs’ core sectors.     

Initial public offering and financing of biotechnology start-ups: Evidence from Japan

This study explores the initial public offering (IPO) and financing of biotechnology start-ups in Japan. Using a unique data set, we find that biotechnology start-ups initially backed by venture capital (VC) firms and those originating from universities are more likely to go public within a shorter period. Moreover, we find that neither staged financing nor syndication by VC firms is associated with higher IPO value relative to investment. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the timing of IPOs does not depend on equity market conditions in the biotechnology industry, whereas IPO value tends to depend on equity market conditions. We discuss the factors that explain these findings, which contradict findings in previous studies of VC investments.     

Venture capital financing and the growth of high-tech start-ups: Disentangling treatment from selection effects

The financial and innovation literature generally claims that venture capital (VC) investments spur the growth of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). However, it has proved difficult so far to separate the “treatment” effect of the VC investment from the “selection” effect attributable to the ability of the VC investor to screen high growth NTBFs. The aim of this work is to test whether VC investments have a positive treatment effect on the growth of employment and sales of NTBFs. For this purpose we consider a 10-year longitudinal data set for 538 Italian NTBFs, most of which are privately held. The sample includes both VC-backed and non-VC-backed firms. We estimate Gibrat-law-type dynamic panel-data models augmented with time-varying variables that capture the VC status of firms. To control for the endogeneity of VC investments we use several GMM estimators. The econometric results strongly support the view that VC investments positively influence firm growth. The treatment effect of VC investments is of large economic magnitude, especially on growth of employment. Most of it is obtained immediately after the first round of VC finance. Conversely, the selection effect of VC appears to be negligible in the Italian context.     

面向创新型国家的开放科学技术政策——理论内涵及建构逻辑与社会效应

创新知识的开放与披露对创新型国家建设至关重要.R&D人员对创新知识的可占有性存在两种可替代性的策略:开放科学或保密.全球化开放创新时代,R&D人员通常会采取开放科学的策略来实现自己的战略目标.基于这种观点,本研究对开放科学技术政策的建构提供了全新的解释,并从“科学-商业”二元价值维度提出三种类型的开放科学行为,并深入探讨了开放科学技术政策建构的三大基本逻辑和社会效应.     

Impact of the excise tax on firm R&D and performance in the medical device industry: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act

This article examines how the excise tax affects firms’ R&D investment, performance, and market strategy in the US medical device industry. The Affordable Care Act imposed a 2.3% excise tax on medical devices beginning in January 2013, and thus this study compares the medical device firms with other high-tech firms before and after the tax incidence. Using COMPUSTAT data from 2006 to 2015, the author finds that the excise tax reduced R&D investment, sales revenue, gross margins, and earnings for medical device firms. In addition, the excise tax increased their global market sales intensity, global market diversification, and customer diversification in the US domestic market.