Identifying and boosting Gazelles: Evidence from business accelerators

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gonzalez-Uribe, Juanita; Reyes, Santiago
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; Inter-American Development Bank
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2020.07.012
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 260-287
• 关键词: High-growth entrepreneurship; Business accelerators; Young firms; Firm capabilities

摘要

Why is high-growth entrepreneurship scarce in developing countries? Does this scarcity reflect firm capabilities constraints? We explore these questions using as a laboratory an accelerator in Colombia that selects participants using scores from randomly assigned judges and offers them training, advice, and visibility but no cash. Exploiting exogenous differences in judges' scoring generosity, we show that alleviating constraints to firm capabilities unlocks innovative entrepreneurs' potential but does not transform subpar ideas into high-growth firms. The results demonstrate that some high-potential entrepreneurs in developing economies face firm capabilities constraints and accelerators can help identify these entrepreneurs and boost their growth. Crown Copyright (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.