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Innovation by start-up firms: The influence of the board of directors

Author

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  • F Baum, Christopher

    (Boston College, DIW Berlin & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies)

  • Lööf, Hans

    (Royal Institute of Technology & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies)

  • Stephan, Andreas

    (Jönköping University, DIW Berlin & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies)

  • Viklund-Ros, Ingrid

    (Royal Institute of Technology & Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies)

Abstract

The paper examines whether the innovation potential of start-ups is influenced by existing innovative firms via the board of directors. This channel of spillover is largely unexplored. Our analysis of over 370,000 firm-year observations on more than 60,000 Swedish start-up firms which entered the market between 2002 and 2013 shows a positive effect of the boards’ innovation experience on the propensity to apply for patents, while no impact on trademark registration is found. The results are robust to controlling for unobserved heterogeneity as well as worker and managerial mobility, human capital, board diversity, venture capital, patent citations, firm size, region and industry.

Suggested Citation

  • F Baum, Christopher & Lööf, Hans & Stephan, Andreas & Viklund-Ros, Ingrid, 2019. "Innovation by start-up firms: The influence of the board of directors," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 483, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, revised 16 Aug 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0483
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    start-ups; board of directors; knowledge spillovers; innovation; instrumental variable estimation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C36 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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