Common Ownership and Innovation Efficiency

57 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2019 Last revised: 17 Dec 2022

See all articles by Xuelin Li

Xuelin Li

University of South Carolina - Darla Moore School of Business

Tong Liu

MIT Sloan School of Management

Lucian A. Taylor

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

Date Written: December 14, 2022

Abstract

How does common ownership affect innovation? We study this question using project-level data on pharmaceutical startups and their venture capital (VC) investors. We find that common ownership leads VCs to hold back projects, withhold funding, and redirect innovation at lagging startups. Effects are stronger where R&D costs are larger, consistent with common owners aiming to cut duplicate costs. Effects are also stronger where technological similarity is greater and preexisting competition is lower, consistent with common owners seeking market power for their surviving projects. Overall, common VC ownership appears to generate social benefits, via improved innovation efficiency, but also social costs.

Keywords: Common ownership, Innovation, Venture capital, Healthcare

JEL Classification: G24, G32, L22, O31

Suggested Citation

Li, Xuelin and Liu, Tong and Taylor, Lucian A., Common Ownership and Innovation Efficiency (December 14, 2022). Journal of Financial Economics (JFE), forthcoming, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Financial Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3479439 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3479439

Xuelin Li

University of South Carolina - Darla Moore School of Business ( email )

1014 Greene Street
Columbia, SC 29208
United States

Tong Liu

MIT Sloan School of Management ( email )

100 Main Street, E62-623
Cambridge, MA 02142

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/view/tongl

Lucian A. Taylor (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )

3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States

HOME PAGE: http://finance.wharton.upenn.edu/~luket/

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