The Economic Impact of Venture Capital: Evidence from Public Companies

44 Pages Posted: 29 Oct 2015 Last revised: 8 Jul 2021

See all articles by Will Gornall

Will Gornall

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Division of Finance

Ilya A. Strebulaev

Stanford University - Graduate School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research

Date Written: June 2021

Abstract

Venture capital-backed companies account for 41% of total US market capitalization and 62% of US public companies’ R&D spending. Among public companies founded within the last fifty years, VC-backed companies account for half in number, three quarters by value, and more than 92% of R&D spending and patent value. The US did not spawn top public companies at a higher rate than other large, developed countries prior to 1970s ERISA reforms, but produced twice as many after it. Using those reforms as a natural experiment suggests that the US VC industry is causally responsible for the rise of one-fifth of the current largest 300 US public companies and that three-quarters of the largest US VC-backed companies would not have existed or achieved their current scale without an active VC industry.

JEL Classification: G24

Suggested Citation

Gornall, Will and Strebulaev, Ilya A., The Economic Impact of Venture Capital: Evidence from Public Companies (June 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2681841 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2681841

Will Gornall

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Division of Finance ( email )

2053 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://willgornall.com

Ilya A. Strebulaev (Contact Author)

Stanford University - Graduate School of Business ( email )

655 Knight Way
Stanford, CA 94305-5015
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/ilya-strebulaev

National Bureau of Economic Research ( email )

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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