Ownership Structure and R&D Investment of Japanese Start-up Firms

In this paper, we analyze the influence of ownership structure on the research and development (R&D) investment of start-up firms. Previous studies on the relationship between ownership and R&D have concentrated on the large, established firms listed on the stock market and have focused on the concentration of ownership, regardless of the types of large shareholders. We argue that the type of large shareholders is an important factor in promoting R&D investment under asymmetric information and that R&D projects, particularly those of start-up firms, strongly depend on the financing received from venture capital firms and main banks. Using a unique data set of the Japanese start-up firms in the 1990s, we found that, even after controlling for the innovativeness prior to the venture capital firm or main bank relationship, the shareholding by venture capital firms and main banks have, in fact, positive and significant effects on the R&D investment of start-up firms.