Venture capital and technology commercialization: evidence from China

Although the importance of venture capital has been recognized in innovation literature, we know relatively little about how and to what extent it influences regional technology commercialization. Using a city-level data set that includes 225 cities in China, we identify the possible economic channels through which regional venture capital development affects technology commercialization. Our findings indicate that cities with better developed venture capital market exhibit higher technology commercialization performance. Furthermore, enhancing technology search efficiency, strengthening collaboration between universities and businesses, and providing sufficient funding are three possible channels that allow venture capital to promote technology commercialization. Our results offer new insights into the effects of venture capital development on technology innovation, especially complementing the literature on innovation from the perspective of technology commercialization.