The impact of venture capital on productivity and economic growth

The aim of the bachelor thesis is to find an answer to the question whether investments in venture capital contribute to economic growth and increase productivity of the technology (ICT) sector. Although the current academic consensus suggests that venture capital does indeed promote innovation and economic growth, it is uncertain whether the same is true for the Czech Republic with its relatively short history in venture capital. In order to compare and place the Czech venture capital market in a global context, the United States of America, as the cradle of venture capital, has been chosen as the country to be compared with in this paper. The theoretical part of the thesis presents the basic theories of venture capital, its impact on the economy and a summary of relevant literature on the topic. In the empirical part, the methods of comparative and regression analysis were applied, using both OLS and Pooled OLS panel data for the US and the Czech Republic for the period 2007-2021, supplemented with data from eight other former Eastern Bloc countries as a proxy for the extension of the data for the Czech Republic. However, the results of the empirical analysis did not show a significant impact of venture capital investment on economic growth or on the productivity of the ICT sector in the Czech Republic. This result suggests that further research is needed to understand the specific factors that influence the relationship between venture capital and economic growth in the Czech Republic and to formulate recommendations to support the successful development of this sector.