• Media type: Report; E-Book
  • Title: Subsidizing startups under imperfect information
  • Contributor: Melcangi, Davide [Author]; Turen, Javier [Author]
  • Published: New York, NY: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2021
  • Language: English
  • Keywords: firm subsidy ; D82 ; D83 ; startups ; H25 ; E60 ; rational inattention
  • Origination:
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  • Description: We study the early stages of firm creation under imperfect information. Because startups make error-prone decisions due to rational inattention, the model generates both inefficient entry and labor misallocation. We show that information frictions alter the effects of lump-sum transfers to startups: the total employment gain is amplified due to an unintended increase in inefficient entry, most entrants hire fewer workers, and misallocation goes up. The transfer makes low-size, previously dominated actions profitable, affecting the entire endogenous learning problem and making even productive startups lean toward more conservative hiring. We show that this novel information channel works against well-known mechanisms (for example, financial frictions) and also dampens the effects of alternative policies such as wage subsidies.
  • Access State: Open Access