Taxing High-Powered Entrepreneurship
We construct a novel measure of the payoff distribution faced by the founders of venture capital-backed startups. Based on this, we explore the effect of alternative tax policies (notably capital gains or wealth taxation) on entrepreneurial risk-taking, focusing on the dilution of the founders' ownership stakes in their companies.
Prof. Florian Scheuer
Project Leader
Department of Economics
Data used
We collect data on funding rounds, exits, founders, and valuations of startups from various financial data providers, SEC filings, and stock market data from 1970 to 2020. This includes around 100'000 funding rounds and 50'000 company exits.
For further information about the project and data availability please contact: florian.scheuer@uzh.ch