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Peter Roosenboom
- 6 August 2009
- WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 1078Details
- Abstract
- Using a comprehensive database of European firms, we study how private equity affects the rate of firm entry. We find that private equity investment benefits new business incorporation, especially in industries with naturally higher entry rates and R&D intensity. A two standard deviation increase in private equity investment explains as much as 5.5% of the variation in entry between high-entry and low-entry industries. We address endogeneity by exploiting data on laws that regulate private equity investments by pension funds. Our results hold when we correct for barriers to entry, general access to credit, protection of intellectual property, and labour regulations.
- JEL Code
- G24 : Financial Economics→Financial Institutions and Services→Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Brokerage, Ratings and Ratings Agencies
L26 : Industrial Organization→Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior→Entrepreneurship
M13 : Business Administration and Business Economics, Marketing, Accounting→Business Administration→New Firms, Startups
- 17 June 2009
- WORKING PAPER SERIES - No. 1063Details
- Abstract
- We provide the first cross-country evidence of the effect of investment by private equity firms on innovation, focusing on a sample of European countries and using Kortum and Lerner's (2000) empirical methodology. Using an 18-country panel covering the period 1991-2004, we study how private equity finance affects patent applications and patent grants. We address concerns about causality in several ways, including exploiting variation in laws regulating the investment behaviour of pension funds and insurance companies across countries and over time. We also control for the standard determinants of innovation like R&D, human capital, and patent protection. Our estimates imply that while private equity investment accounts for 8% of aggregate (private equity plus R&D) industrial spending, PE accounts for as much as 12% of industrial innovation. We also present similar evidence from the biotech industry to alleviate concerns that our results are biased by aggregation.
- JEL Code
- C23 : Mathematical and Quantitative Methods→Single Equation Models, Single Variables→Panel Data Models, Spatio-temporal Models
G15 : Financial Economics→General Financial Markets→International Financial Markets
O16 : Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth→Economic Development→Financial Markets, Saving and Capital Investment, Corporate Finance and Governance