Primary logit regression.

Prior scholarship generally examines the returns generated by firm-government engagement. These studies are based on an implicit and understudied assumption – the firm’s strategic choice of whether to engage with the government. Here, we unpack the drivers of this choice. To do so, we construct a population-level sample of U.S. high-tech ventures founded between 2015–2017; the full sample exceeds one million firms. We then utilize government records to identify initial firm-government engagement; approximately 24,000 high-tech ventures reveal this preference by firm age three. We examine a range of external and internal factors that may motivate such a choice. The results indicate that firm-government engagement most prominently coincides with firm resource constraints. Features driving such engagement include: (i) underrepresented minority-owned firms; (ii) small firms; (iii) firms with greater early-stage growth potential; and (iv) firms located in less intensive entrepreneurial settings. This study offers managerial, policy, and scholarly contributions by uncovering new insights around firm strategy and government opportunities for high-tech ventures.

既往学术研究多聚焦于企业与政府互动所产生的收益。此类研究均基于一项隐含且未得到充分研究的假设——即企业是否选择与政府开展互动的战略决策。本研究旨在拆解这一决策背后的驱动因素。为此，我们构建了2015至2017年间创立的美国高科技初创企业的全群体样本，总样本量超过100万家企业。随后我们通过政府档案识别企业与政府的初始互动情况，最终有约2.4万家高科技初创企业在成立满三年时展现出与政府互动的倾向。我们对可能推动该决策的一系列内外部因素展开了分析，研究结果显示，企业与政府的互动行为与企业的资源约束状况关联最为显著。推动此类互动的企业特征包括：（1）少数族裔控股且群体代表性不足的企业；（2）小型企业；（3）早期增长潜力更高的企业；（4）位于创业活跃度较低地区的企业。本研究通过揭示高科技初创企业在战略选择与政府合作机遇方面的全新洞察，为管理实践、政策制定及学术研究提供了有益贡献。