Trademarks and Entrepreneurial Firm Success: Theory and Evidence from Venture Capital Investments in Private Firms
研究了创业企业商标数量与风险投资阶段、长期经营绩效及成功退出概率的关系，发现更多商标能减少融资轮次、提升销售和就业，并增加IPO或被收购的概率。
We theoretically model an entrepreneur’s choice of his firm’s products to trademark, the relation between the number of trademarks and venture capital (VC) investment staging, long-run operating performance, and successful firm exit probability. We test model predictions using a large dataset of trademarks registered by VC-backed private US firms. We find that firms with a larger number of trademarks at first VC investment have a smaller number of VC financing rounds; have larger long-run sales and employment; and have greater probabilities of successful exit (initial public offering [IPO] or acquisition). Our instrumental variable analysis demonstrates that more trademarks causally enhance firm performance and reduce VC staging.