Startups in Russia: Ownership vs. Performance

Posted: 8 Oct 2019 Last revised: 20 Jan 2020

See all articles by Olga Guseva

Olga Guseva

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Anastasia Stepanova

HSE University

Date Written: October 4, 2019

Abstract

This paper examines how ownership characteristics affect the performance of small and medium technology startups in Russia. We focus on how different types of owners (e.g. founders, state, venture capital and corporate firms) contribute to startup performance. Using an unbalanced panel of startups from Skolkovo, the largest Russian innovation cluster, from 2010 to 2016, we found evidence of a negative relationship between a support from government-related organisations and chosen indicators of startup performance. Our findings confirmed the positive impact of venture capital on ROA, especially for the Space cluster startups. While family members as owners were not found to have a significant impact on startups, we identified a positive contribution from managerial ownership to ROA. The study highlights the importance of other ownership characteristics, which were found to be significant in previous studies of emerged markets. We discuss potential interpretations of the findings and provide strategic management insights for startup owners and investors.

Keywords: Startups; Ownership; Development institutes; Emerging markets

JEL Classification: M13, G32, G34, O38

Suggested Citation

Guseva, Olga and Stepanova, Anastasia N., Startups in Russia: Ownership vs. Performance (October 4, 2019). Higher School of Economics Research Paper No. WP BRP 76/FE/2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3464322 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3464322

Olga Guseva (Contact Author)

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

Anastasia N. Stepanova

HSE University ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

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