Readily available venture capital funding for start-up businesses lowers unemployment, a new study of 20 industrial countries has claimed.
The research, by the University of Bath, estimated that if venture capital availability in Italy (where it was most difficult to obtain during the sample period) had matched the United States (where it was in best supply), Italy’s unemployment rate might have been 1.8% lower; its long-term unemployment share 9.0% lower; and its employment rate 2.7%. On average over the sample period, venture capital availability was rated 3.1 in Italy and 5.8 in the United States on a scale of 1 to 7. The United Kingdom was rated at 5.3.
Researchers said the report, which collated data from the World Economic Forum's executive opinion surveys between 1982 and 2003, is the first to use poll data to measure the availability of venture capital.
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