Seminar (Dept. of Finance)

Theme：Public Entrepreneurial Finance around the Globe

Speaker：Josh Lerner, Jocab H. Schiff professor, the Harvard Business School

Time：2021-04-30 08:30

Address：Zoom会议室

Language：English

Venue：Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.com.cn/j/69897056842?pwd=RkhpS1prbXNXVDllYlIyMTJ5bjNhQT09

Meeting ID：698 9705 6842

password：299086

ABSTRACT:

This paper examines how government funding programs geared towards early-stage companies interact with private capital markets. Using hand-collected data on 755 government programs worldwide, we find that governments’ allocations to such funding programs have been comparable to global venture capital disbursements in the past decade. Government programs were more frequent in periods with more private venture activity, a relationship that was stronger in nations with better public governance. The programs’ structures often relied on the local private sector. The private sector’s involvement was greater when government programs targeted earlier stage companies and when rankings of government effectiveness were higher. We find that such government funding programs increased local innovation, particularly when the programs focused on early-stage ventures or collaborated with the private sector. These findings are most consistent with the explanation that the reliance on private capital markets enabled governments to mitigate investment frictions and improve capital allocation.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY:

Josh Lerner is Jocab H. Schiff professor of investment banking at the Harvard Business School. Much of his research focuses on venture capital and private equity organizations. This research has been summarized in Boulevard of Broken Dreams, The Money of Invention, Patent Capital, and The Venture Capital Cycle. He also examines policies on innovation and how they impact firm strategies. That research is discussed in the books The Architecture of Innovation, The Comingled Code, and Innovation and Its Discontents. He co-directs the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program and serves as co-editor of their publication, Innovation Policy and the Economy. He founded and runs the Private Capital Research Institute, a nonprofit devoted to encouraging access to data and research, and has been a frequent leader of and participant in the World Economic Forum projects and events. Besides research, Josh has introduced and been teaching “Venture Capital and Private Equity” for MBAs, one of the largest elective MBA courses at Harvard Business School. Among other recognitions, he is the winner of the Swedish government’s Global Entrepreneurship Research Award and Cheng Siwei Award for Venture Capital Research.