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Artificial Intelligence, Education, and Entrepreneurship

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  • MICHAEL GOFMAN
  • ZHAO JIN

Abstract

We document an unprecedented brain drain of Artificial Intelligence (AI) professors from universities from 2004 to 2018. We find that students from the affected universities establish fewer AI startups and raise less funding. The brain‐drain effect is significant for tenured professors, professors from top universities, and deep‐learning professors. Additional evidence suggests that unobserved city‐ and university‐level shocks are unlikely to drive our results. We consider several economic channels for the findings. The most consistent explanation is that professors' departures reduce startup founders' AI knowledge, which we find is an important factor for successful startup formation and fundraising.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Gofman & Zhao Jin, 2024. "Artificial Intelligence, Education, and Entrepreneurship," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(1), pages 631-667, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:79:y:2024:i:1:p:631-667
    DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13302
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Obschonka & Denis A. Grégoire & Boris Nikolaev & Frédéric Ooms & Moren Lévesque & Jeffrey M. Pollack & Tara S. Behrend, 2025. "Artificial Intelligence and Entrepreneurship: A Call for Research to Prospect and Establish the Scholarly AI Frontiers," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 49(3), pages 620-641, May.
    2. Wang, Daoping & Liang, Yaxi & Shen, Xinyan, 2025. "Can artificial intelligence assist banks in improving city entrepreneurship?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Chen, Shiyi & Li, Yunpeng & Sun, Qinzhu, 2025. "Population aging and innovation slowdown: Dual mechanisms of firm cost structure and consumption preference," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    4. Frank M. Fossen & Trevor McLemore & Alina Sorgner, 2024. "Artificial Intelligence and Entrepreneurship," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 20(8), pages 781-904, December.
    5. Junhui Jeff Cai & Xian Gu & Liugang Sheng & Mengjia Xia & Linda Zhao & Wu Zhu, 2025. "AI as "Co-founder": GenAI for Entrepreneurship," Papers 2512.06506, arXiv.org.
    6. Marioni, Larissa da Silva & Rincon-Aznar, Ana & Venturini, Francesco, 2024. "Productivity performance, distance to frontier and AI innovation: Firm-level evidence from Europe," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    7. Hanming Fang & Xian Gu & Hanyin Yan & Wu Zhu, 2026. "AI Patents in the United States and China: Measurement, Organization, and Knowledge Flows," Papers 2604.10529, arXiv.org.
    8. Martin Obschonka & Moren Levesque, 2024. "A Market for Lemons? Strategic Directions for a Vigilant Application of Artificial Intelligence in Entrepreneurship Research," Papers 2409.08890, arXiv.org.
    9. María Dolores Redondo-Rodríguez & Eloísa Díaz-Garrido & Diana C. Pérez-Bustamante Yábar & María Ángeles Ramón-Jerónimo, 2025. "Entrepreneurship and artificial intelligence: a bibliometric analysis," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1840-1872, August.
    10. Guo, Lihong & Pei, Huacheng & Liu, Yizi, 2025. "Artificial intelligence and corporate green innovation: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Yin, Hua & Yin, Xieyu & Wen, Fenghua, 2025. "Artificial intelligence and climate risk: A double machine learning approach," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    12. Sharma, Asmita & Goel, Anushka & Taneja, Udita, 2026. "AI adoption and digital entrepreneurial intentions: A theory of planned behaviour and technology acceptance model approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Li, Zhenyu & Zhu, Jiawen & Feng, Gengzhong, 2025. "Faster financing or higher valuation: A difficult choice for the founders from good universities," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 104(PA).
    14. Firuz Kamalov & David Santandreu Calonge & Patrik T. Hultberg & Linda Smail & Dima Jamali, 2025. "Comparative analysis of leading artificial intelligence chatbots in the context of entrepreneurship," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-27, December.
    15. Rajeev K. Goel & Michael A. Nelson, 2025. "Awareness of artificial intelligence: diffusion of AI versus ChatGPT information with implications for entrepreneurship," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 96-113, February.
    16. Chen, Rui & Jiang, Haiqi & Guo, Tingyu & Fan, Chenyou, 2025. "Can Large Language Models forecast carbon price movements? Evidence from Chinese carbon markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(PB).

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