Publications
Publications
- winter 2000
- RAND Journal of Economics
Assessing the Impact of Venture Capital to Innovation
By: Samuel Kortum and Josh Lerner
Abstract
We examine the influence of venture capital on patented inventions in the United States across twenty industries over three decades. We address concerns about causality in several ways, including exploiting a 1979 policy shift that spurred venture capital fundraising. We find that increases in venture capital activity in an industry are associated with significantly higher patenting rates. While the ratio of venture capital to R&D averaged less than 3% from 1983-1992, our estimates suggest that venture capital may have accounted for 8% of industrial innovations in that period.
Keywords
Citation
Kortum, Samuel, and Josh Lerner. "Assessing the Impact of Venture Capital to Innovation." RAND Journal of Economics 31, no. 4 (winter 2000): 674–692. (Supplemental appendix.)