Dear Colleagues,
Our next virtual seminar in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy Research series is Wednesday, April 22 from 11:00-12:00 ET. Supradeep Dutta (Rutger University - Camden) - will present. "Closing the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship: Do Government Subsidies Help?" Abstract is below. Click the link HERE to register for the April 22nd seminar.
We hope you join us!
- Tim Folta (UCONN), Maryann Feldman (ASU), and Supradeep Dutta (Rutgers U)
Abstract: Despite sustained efforts to promote women-owned startups, it remains unclear whether policy initiatives can correct gender-based market failures. This study tackles that question by examining first-time recipients of the U.S. SBIR/STTR program from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation between 2000 and 2019. Leveraging a quasi-natural experiment, we assess whether additional funding from state-level matching program reduce gender disparities in innovation and access to follow-on capital. Our findings suggest that additional funding not only boosts innovation among female-founded startups but also accelerates their access to venture capital compared to male-founded startups. All-women founding teams emerge as particularly strong performers, generating more impactful innovations than their male counterparts. Moreover, within female-founded startups, those receiving additional funding outperform those that do not, both in innovation and access to venture capital. Together, these results provide evidence that public subsidies can meaningfully narrow gender gaps and unlock access to resources in the private markets.
-------------------------------------------