Institutional Change and Early-Stage Start-Up Selection: Evidence from Applicants to Venture Accelerators

Abstract

Existing research at the nexus of institutional theory and entrepreneurship suggests that lowering institutional barriers to forming, growing, and exiting new firms can affect the types of start-ups that entrepreneurs found in a region. These institutional changes could influence entrepreneurs’ perceptions of the value of partnering with venture accelerators and potentially improve these sponsors’ capacity to select high-growth start-ups to fund and develop. This study evaluates these ideas by developing and testing three hypotheses. First, institutional reforms improve entrepreneurs’ perceived value of venture accelerators for resources that affect new venture development. Second, they reduce the average probability of being selected for new applicants, due to a surge in the number and heterogeneity of new applicants within accelerators’ local ecosystems. Third, institutional reforms increase the quality of selected cohorts for accelerator managers due to increases in the average quality and human capital of new applicants. To evaluate these hypotheses, I analyze data from 13,770 applicants to venture accelerators over multiple application cycles between 2016 and 2018 in 170 countries. I use a differences-in-differences design to estimate the effects of institutional changes on start-up selection after regulatory reforms that reduced the time and procedures to start new firms, obtain credit, and resolve bankruptcy for entrepreneurs. The findings have valuable implications for how governments, especially those in emerging and developing economies, can support high-growth entrepreneurship.