关键词: 创始人, 创始人身份, 科创企业, 股权融资, 创新绩效

Abstract:

The innovation activities of enterprises constitute a complex systemic endeavor， subject to a multitude of factors including resource endowment， organizational management， and top management team composition. Despite scholars delving into antecedents of firm innovation performance from various perspectives， there is a scarcity of literature examining the influence of founder identities on innovation performance. In the process of corporate governance， founder-chairpersons often concurrently hold the position of Chief Executive Officer （CEO）， embodying attributes such as a strong sense of corporate identity， a pursuit of long-term success， the retention of practical control over company operations， and the establishment of enduring psychological and emotional connections with the company. Such attributes wield a significant influence over the firm's investment behaviors. To date， numerous studies pertaining to founders have emanated from entrepreneurship-centric or strategy-centric perspectives. For instance， entrepreneurship research concerning founders has predominantly concentrated on comprehending their influence during the early stages of a company and their effects on company growth. Conversely， strategy-centered research primarily focuses on the impact of founders on strategic choices and performance， with minimal systematic exploration of the heterogeneity of founder identities. Hence， it is imperative to explore the impact mechanisms of founder identity types on the innovation performance of science and technology innovation enterprise from the perspective of founder identities.Based on the prospectus data of 466 STB listed companies from 2016-2020， textual analysis is firstly used to reconstruct founder identity and classify founder identity into academic founder， technical founder， and commercial founder. Then， stepwise regression models are constructed to empirically analyze the impact of founder identity heterogeneity on the innovation performance of science and technology innovation enterprises， and the mediating role of equity financing. The results suggest that academic founders show the best innovation performance by obtaining relatively more equity financing. Further， it is found that overseas experience and duality positively moderated the relationship between academic founder and equity financing， and prior VC/PE supports weakened the identity advantage of academic founders in terms of equity financing. Heterogeneity analysis showes that academic founder firms of unlisted companies on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations presented better innovation performance； The positive relationship between academic founder and firm innovation performance is more prominent in regions with better government-business relationships. These findings of the study provide a new reference and basis for improving corporate equity financing and promoting innovation development of science and innovation enterprises in China.

Key words: founder, founder identity, science and technology innovation enterprise, equity financing, innovation performance