Topic: Government Venture Capital and Start-up Innovation in Transition Economies: Evidence from China

Meeting time: 14:00-15:30, September 29, 2022

Tencent conference ID: 586 444 965

Conference Password: 0929

Speaker: Dr. A-qi Liu

Speaker profile: Dr. A-qi Liu, Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University, PhD in Management from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 2011 to 2016, he has rich working experience in project management and strategic management in CoFCO, a large state-owned enterprise. From 2021-2022, he worked as a research assistant at the Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School. Currently, Dr. Liu works in strategy and operations management for a conglomerate in Hong Kong.

Abstract: This study examines the role of government venture capital (GVC) on start-up innovation in transition economies. We propose that GVC constitutes an important institutional endorsement mechanism for start-ups to gain sociopolitical legitimacy and embeddedness in their resource environment to increase their innovation performance. Furthermore, we unearth the contingent value of GVC endorsement for start-up innovation by focusing on start-ups’ political ties and prestige as distinct alternate sources of sociopolitical legitimacy and argue that the effect of GVC endorsement will be more pronounced for start-ups lacking in these attributes. Regression analyses using longitudinal data of Chinese venture-backed biopharma and medical device start-ups founded during 2002-2017, along with a two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI) estimation method, offer broad support for our theory about the legitimating role of GVC.