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The Italian Start Up Act: a microeconometric program evaluation

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Biancalani

    (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca)

  • Dirk Czarnitzki

    (KU Leuven
    KU Leuven
    Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW))

  • Massimo Riccaboni

    (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of the Italian Start Up Act which entered into force in October 2012. This public policy provides a unique bundle of benefits, such as tax incentives, public loan guarantees, and a more flexible labor law, for firms registered as “innovative startups” in Italy. This legislation has been implemented by the Italian government to increase innovativeness of small and young enterprises by facilitating access to (external) capital and (high-skilled) labor. Consequently, the goal of our evaluation is to assess the impact of the policy on equity, debt, and employment. Using various conditional difference-in-difference models, we find that the Italian innovative startup policy has met its primary objectives. The econometric results strongly suggest that Italian innovative startups are more successful in obtaining equity and debt capital and they also hire more employees because of the program participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Biancalani & Dirk Czarnitzki & Massimo Riccaboni, 2022. "The Italian Start Up Act: a microeconometric program evaluation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1699-1720, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:58:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-021-00468-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-021-00468-7
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    5. HONJO, Yuji & IWAKI, Yunosuke & KATO, Masatoshi, 2024. "Outside or inside the firm? The impact of debt financing on the exit routes of start-up firms," TDB-CAREE Discussion Paper Series E-2023-02, Teikoku Databank Center for Advanced Empirical Research on Enterprise and Economy, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Startup; Innovation policy; Firm subsidies; Innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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