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on Entrepreneurship |
| By: | Niklas Garnadt; Lena Füner; Konrad Stahl; Joacim Tag |
| Abstract: | Identifying high growth startups ex-ante and fostering their success is an important policy challenge. Using Swedish registry data, we show that previous labor market earnings of entrepreneurs is a simple observable that is strongly correlated with entrepreneurship success. Entrepreneurs from the top decile of income from dependent employment are four times more likely to succeed than those from the lowest decile. Their firms are larger and more productive from the outset, and this effect intensifies over time. This correlation is virtually unaffected by variations in the entrepreneurs’ personal traits. It does also not vary across the business cycle. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, high-growth startups, labor income, unemployment |
| JEL: | L26 L53 J24 E32 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_693 |
| By: | Enriques, Luca; Nigro, Casimiro A.; Tröger, Tobias |
| Abstract: | A vast literature has examined the contractual technology that venture capital (VC) funds and entrepreneurs deploy in the U.S. to define an agency cost-minimising structure of their relationship, leading many to conclude that U.S. VC contracts are the best real-world solution to the challenges bedeviling the financing of high-tech innovative startups and a model for VC transactional practice worldwide. Yet, whether VC funds and entrepreneurs can replicate the allocation of cash-flow and control rights resulting from U.S. VC contracts in non-U.S. jurisdictions has long been open to discussion. Research by financial economists and legal scholars have reached diverging conclusions. The existing literature exhibits three limitations, though. First, it has generally investigated at most only how a subset of the individual components of U.S. VC contracts fare under non-U.S. corporate laws. Second, it has typically considered the law on the books as opposed to the law in action. Third, it has relied on a loose definition of what qualifies as an effective substitute. This article examines how U.S. VC contracts fare under the corporate law regimes in force in two important European jurisdictions: Germany and Italy. It does so by taking a new approach to the matter. First, it considers the entire set of arrangements included in U.S. VC contracts rather than a sample. Second, it assesses the legality of those arrangements in the light of the applicable corporate law in action rather than the law on the books. Third, in assessing arrangements that deviate from U.S. private ordering solutions due to restrictive corporate law, it focuses on contract functionality rather than contract design. The results of the inquiry are straightforward: German and Italian corporate laws literally crash contracting parties' ambition to transplant U.S. VC contracts into their own jurisdictions and only allow for alternative arrangements that, if available at all, are costlier and/or less functional. |
| Keywords: | Comparative Corporate Law, Comparative Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, Financial Contracting, Private ordering, Start-ups, Venture Capital |
| JEL: | G38 K22 L26 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:lawfin:319632 |
| By: | Jian Jia; Ginger Zhe Jin; Mario Leccese; Liad Wagman |
| Abstract: | We examine how the GDPR affected transatlantic venture investment. Using investment data from 2014 to 2019, we find that the GDPR’s rollout in May 2018 led to a significant decline in US investor activity in the EU, evidenced by fewer deals and investment, especially for newer and data-related ventures. Investors shifted toward geographically closer ventures and relied more on syndication, particularly with EU-based lead investors. While the shift to local investing drove the overall decline, syndication partially offset it. The results highlight the role of digital policies in shaping investment strategies and influencing transatlantic capital flows. |
| JEL: | D8 G11 K20 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33909 |
| By: | Nadia Ali; Massimiliano Cali; Bob Rijkers |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates Tunisia’s “Startup Act, ” a policy initiative to foster innovative firms through a “start-up” label and a bundle of incentives, including reduced social security contributions, corporate tax exemptions, easier access to foreign exchange, and simplified customs procedures. Detailed data on the program’s selection process allow identifying marginal entrants and rejects, and hence limit selection on unobservables. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, the program is shown to increase survival and promote job creation. A back-of-the-envelope cost-benefit calculation suggests that the program is cost effective. |
| Date: | 2025–05–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11117 |
| By: | Ningzi Li; Shiyang Lai; James Evans |
| Abstract: | As large-scale social data explode and machine-learning methods evolve, scholars of entrepreneurship and innovation face new research opportunities but also unique challenges. This chapter discusses the difficulties of leveraging large-scale data to identify technological and commercial novelty, document new venture origins, and forecast competition between new technologies and commercial forms. It suggests how scholars can take advantage of new text, network, image, audio, and video data in two distinct ways that advance innovation and entrepreneurship research. First, machine-learning models, combined with large-scale data, enable the construction of precision measurements that function as system-level observatories of innovation and entrepreneurship across human societies. Second, new artificial intelligence models fueled by big data generate 'digital doubles' of technology and business, forming laboratories for virtual experimentation about innovation and entrepreneurship processes and policies. The chapter argues for the advancement of theory development and testing in entrepreneurship and innovation by coupling big data with big models. |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2505.08706 |
| By: | Miriam Bruhn; Federico Alfonso Diaz Kalan; Nicolo Fraccaroli; Claudia Ruiz Ortega |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of a World Bank program aimed at promoting access to finance for micro, small, and medium-size enterprises in Ecuador. A staggered difference-in-differences method is used to estimate the impact of the program on 2, 035 participant firms during 2019–23. The findings show that the program had a positive effect on these firms, by boosting their financing, number of workers, short-term assets, and sales. This effect is similar when enterprises are female-led and is larger for firms that had no previous access to finance. |
| Date: | 2025–05–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11121 |
| By: | Lydia Papadaki; Phoebe Koundouri |
| Abstract: | Social sciences, particularly business and management, are now adopting hackathons, traditionally used in IT, to enhance entrepreneurship skills. These co-creative activities, lasting one or two days, involve teams generating ideas or facing challenges. Climathons aim to empower citizens to combat climate change through local activation and collaboration. This study investigates the effectiveness of a Climathon in promoting sustainable entrepreneurial mindsets. Two Climathons were held in Greece in 2023, Lavrio and Agia Paraskevi, to assess the effectiveness of these events. A self-assessment survey was developed and disseminated, with the Climathon participants seeking to provide answers to two research questions: first, whether a Climathon can be utilised as a mechanism to enhance awareness and motivate participants to embrace sustainable practices, and second, which soft skills essential for an entrepreneurial attitude are activated during a Climathon. Results indicated an increased participants' comprehension of sustainability after taking part in the Climathon. The study also found that awards and team leadership experience were significant predictors of sustainability education, which could impact workforce development and corporate training. Problem-solving skills were found to be non-significantly associated with sustainability education. Improving one soft skill could promote the development of additional talents, such as time management and collaboration. Finally, the study identified operational gaps in organising ideathons and suggested areas where future Climathons should focus, such as workshops, team challenges, and solution-creation sessions over expert talks. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, entrepreneurship, Ideathon, soft-skills, competition, education |
| Date: | 2025–06–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aue:wpaper:2542 |
| By: | Qingkai Zhang; L. Jeff Hong; Houmin Yan |
| Abstract: | The rapid expansion of cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) has created significant opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), yet financing remains a critical challenge due to SMEs' limited credit histories. Third-party logistics (3PL)-led supply chain finance (SCF) has emerged as a promising solution, leveraging in-transit inventory as collateral. We propose an advanced credit risk management framework tailored for 3PL-led SCF, addressing the dual challenges of credit risk assessment and loan size determination. Specifically, we leverage conditional generative modeling of sales distributions through Quantile-Regression-based Generative Metamodeling (QRGMM) as the foundation for risk estimation. We propose a unified framework that enables flexible estimation of multiple risk measures while introducing a functional risk measure formulation that systematically captures the relationship between these risk measures and varying loan levels, supported by theoretical guarantees. To capture complex covariate interactions in e-commerce sales data, we integrate QRGMM with Deep Factorization Machines (DeepFM). Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world data validate the efficacy of our model for credit risk assessment and loan size determination. This study represents a pioneering application of generative AI in CBEC SCF risk management, offering a solid foundation for enhanced credit practices and improved SME access to capital. |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2506.15305 |
| By: | Butzin, Anna; David, Alexandra; Terstriep, Judith |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurial Ecosystems sind zu einem "Blockbuster" in der Regionalentwicklung avanciert. Offen bleibt jedoch, welche Wirkungen sie tatsächlich für die Region entfalten. Diese Systeme wechselseitig abhängiger Akteure und Faktoren, die so koordiniert sind, dass sie produktives Unternehmertum ermöglichen, einer kritischen Analyse zu unterziehen, erscheint daher zeitgemäß. Eine evidenzbasierte Regionalentwicklung erfordert Wirkmodelle, die direkten und indirekten regionalen Effekte wie Beschäftigung, Kapitalbindung, Teilhabe sowie regionale Transformationsprozesse und Möglichkeiten der Mitgestaltung erfassen. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Regionalentwicklung, Wirkungsmessung |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iatfor:319706 |
| By: | Caroline Stiel; Alexander S. Kritikos; Jörn Block; Irene Bertschek |
| Abstract: | In spring 2021, DIW Berlin, ZEW Mannheim, and the University of Trier conducted an online survey among self-employed persons to collect data about the situation of the self-employed in Germany one year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was disseminated in cooperation with the Verband der Gründer und Selbstständigen Deutschland (VGSD) e.V. and other professional associations. The questionnaire includes 58 questions and focuses on the following topics: impact of the pandemic on the venture, financial situation during the pandemic, application for government support programs, business strategies to overcome the crisis, assessments of the future, well-being, and sociodemographic and business-related characteristics. |
| Keywords: | self-employed, COVID-19 pandemic, Germany, entrepreneurship, economic crisis, financial aid |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwddc:dd113 |