Recent Research

With fewer than 1,000 Initial Public Offerings in any year, the most common exit strategy for investors in early-stage innovation firms is to find an acquisition opportunity. For the broader economic goal of encouraging innovation because it drives growth and societal progress, when large firms acquire smaller, innovative companies, does it promote innovation, or does it primarily help dominant players thwart possible competition and consolidate market power? This is the central question of a recent research paper by Maria Martinez Cillero, Lorenzo Napolitano, Francesco Rentocchini, Cecilia Seri, and Elena Zaurino published by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. The paper, M&As, Innovation and Superstar Firms, addresses the rise in market concentration and the dominance of superstar firms globally. This trend has sparked concerns over a resulting decline in competition and innovation.

In the last twenty years, there has been a critical shift in the technology transfer landscape that calls for a fundamental overhaul of university Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) from focusing on passive IP management to active startup development, according to a recent SSRN article.

Innovation spreads, but how far can it reach? A new study finds that firms operating in multiple tech clusters act as conduits, transmitting knowledge and boosting productivity across distant locations. However, certain types of firms are better at it—and benefit more readily—than others. This insight, from a recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, “Innovation Spillovers across U.S. Tech Clusters,” challenges our understanding of how innovation benefits spread geographically.

A recent Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City working paper explores the relationship between inter-state mobility, earnings gains, and initial wealth of young college graduates over time, highlighting the impact of debt. The paper Should I Stay or Should I Go? Inter-state Mobility and Earnings Gains of Young College Graduates by Andrew Glover and José Mustre-del-Río proposes a model to explain the decline in mobility.

Looking at historical trends, the authors find that in the late 1990s, nearly 7% of young college graduates moved across state lines annually, experiencing a 30% increase in earnings three years post-move. By the mid-2010s, mobility dropped to 4.2%, while earnings gains became more front-loaded but smaller. At the same time, debt increased among young college graduates (see the recent SSTI article, Addressing Ballooning Student Debt).

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, Immigrant Entrepreneurship: New Estimates and a Research Agenda provides fresh insights into the growth and characteristics of immigrant-founded firms across the United States. The study also outlines directions for future research in this field.

Key findings from the authors’ statistical analysis include:

Traditionally, a scientific discovery's commercial potential is gauged after significant R&D. However, a recent paper by Duke University researchers Roger Masclans-Armengol, Sharique Hasan, and Wesley M. Cohen (2024) proposes a new method for assessing the commercial potential of scientific research before it's fully developed. Using a large language model to analyze scientific findings, the researchers predicted the likelihood that a discovery will lead to marketable products or processes.

A working paper by a team of Harvard-affiliated researchers presents challenging findings for growth equity impact investors. Given the potential alignment between this sector of the market and publicly funded capital access programs (including many venture development organizations and the State Small Business Credit Initiative), this research may find its way into public policy debates. The paper, which has not yet been published in an academic journal, also contains several shortcomings in its approach that should caution any stakeholders from acting on its findings alone.