Supporting innovative entrepreneurship: an evaluation of the Italian “Start-up Act”

Abstract The role of innovative start-ups in contributing to aggregate economic dynamism has attracted increased attention recent years. While this translated into several public policies explicitly targeting them, there is little evidence on their effectiveness. This article provides a comprehensive evaluation the “Start-up Act,” policy intervention aimed at supporting Italy. We construct unique database encompassing detailed information firm balance sheets, employment, demographics, patents and bank–firm relationships for all Italian start-ups. use conditional difference-in-differences instrumental variable strategies evaluate impact Act” performance. Results show that induces significant increase outcomes whereas no effect detected patenting propensity survival chances. also document alleviates financial frictions characterizing through provision tax credits equity guarantee scheme which, respectively, trigger an probability receiving VC accessing bank credit.