Venture Capital: Results of the Impact Study for Austria

Exerting special financing, selection and value adding functions, private equity and venture capital are considered to have an important impact on the overall economic development. The article tests these effects for Austria by using company data and a two-stage matching procedure. The findings demonstrate that private equity and venture capital are channelled towards enterprises whose innovativeness is above-average and which would not have sufficient alternative financial resources. They also generate additional momentum for growth in the firms' turnover and employment.