Among all newly established firms in the United States since 1980, only around 0.2% of them have raised venture capital (VC) financing. Nonetheless, VC-backed firms accounted for more than 10% of net employment growth and more than 15% of net payroll growth in the economy.
The extent to which geographic distance is a barrier to technological knowledge transfer is of interest to governments of countries distant from centers of knowledge creation or technology production; to entrepreneurs deciding where to locate a new firm that will need to remain abreast of technological developments; and to national or local policy-makers seeking to influence the decisions of such entrepreneurs.
Jim Bessen, Felix Poege and Ronja Röttger’s article “Research: The Risks of Founding a Startup Near Big Companies”, Harvard Business Review, November 12, 2024.
Currently, 70% of U.S. firms report difficulties in hiring skilled labor (Manpower Group, 2024), and labor scarcity is expected to aggravate in the future due to demographic change.
Podcast with Julien Mc Donald-Guimond interviewing TPRI’s Executive Director, James Bessen, on why automation sometimes increases employment and decreases it at other time.
La planche à billets ASDEQ , May 8, 2024.