Thesis

The entrepreneurial state: Antecedents and side effects of public innovation funding

Successful innovation and entrepreneurship are considered key drivers of economic growth. Nevertheless, risky and challenging innovation activities are oftentimes carried out below the efficient level, due to insufficient financing of new ventures. Therefore, governments offer public funding alternatives (e.g. Exist-grant / Gründerstipendium) in order to bridge the funding gap and increase the quantity of funded innovation projects. In Germany, for instance, public funds are the second largest funding source for German start-ups. The response to such public funding initiatives has been mainly positive, yet many aspects remain unclear. Especially secondary outcomes and the interplay between private and public investors remain under-researched. Possible research topics range from more general investigations in entrepreneurial finance to more specific investigations of specific funding sources, coupled with firm-level outcomes.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance, innovation policy, public innovation funding, innovation subsidies, new ventures