Essays in Financial Economics

Abstract

This dissertation consists of three essays in financial economics with a common focus on the consequences of firm financing frictions for labor markets, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Chapter 1 provides novel evidence on the career returns to startup employment using quasi-exogenous variation in venture capital (VC) investment. The chapter shows how VC market conditions impact the labor market for startup talent, job outcomes, and worker career progression. It then documents how these effects vary with the technology-skill specificity of workers' human capital investments. Using novel administrative data on healthcare providers, Chapter 2 demonstrates the negative externalities of financial distress for employees and consumers: filing for corporate bankruptcy increases voluntary worker turnover, leading to worsened quality of care and patient health. By collecting a novel dataset on public-sector entrepreneurial finance programs, Chapter 3 provides a new look at government efforts to finance early-stage ventures, shedding light on their global scope, scale, and consequences.