Start-up growth is often treated as a stylised fact, despite an extensive research body composed of divergent theories and empirical findings. Against this background, this work contributes to the literature by analysing a hand-collected dataset of 2,951 EIF-backed VC start-ups. Section 2...

Innovative startups are frequently acquired by large incumbent firms. On the one hand, these acquisitions provide an incentive for startup creation and may transfer ideas to more efficient users. On the other hand, incumbents might acquire startups just to "kill" their ideas, and acquisitions...

We propose a quantitative theory of wealth creation and distribution during China's transitional growth from the early 1990s, when barriers to setting up private businesses, trading housing, and migrating from rural to urban areas are struck down. In response to the changing economic...