Public economics gone wild: Lessons from venture capital

A recent article in the Journal of Public Economics has asserted, among other things, that government venture capital funds in Europe have crowded out private venture capital. I explain that the findings in that paper are based on empirical measures that are completely flawed. Moreover, I show with data spanning 13 countries and the years 1989-2011 that government venture capital funds in Europe have not crowded out private venture capital investment. Finally, I draw implications for studying venture capital and public policy for other countries such as India and China.