Innovation by start-up firms : The role of the board of directors for knowledge spillovers

• This paper investigates whether board directors interlocked with or employed by innovative firms affect startup firms' propensity to be innovators themselves. Drawing upon a sample of more than 50,000 Swedish start-up firms, we find that board connections to incumbent innovators have a causal impact on the new firms' probability to apply for patents. The results are robust when controlling for industry, geography, firm age, as well as spillovers through worker and managerial mobility, external knowledge sourcing through patent disclosure, access to venture capital and board attributes.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Start-ups

Board of directors

Knowledge spillovers

Innovation

Instrumental variables estimation

Economics

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)