The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the actual impact of startup competition awards on firm financial performance (sales) using the Difference-in-Differences (DID) methodology. Competitions are valued as an important growth support...
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the actual impact of startup competition awards on firm financial performance (sales) using the Difference-in-Differences (DID) methodology. Competitions are valued as an important growth support platform for discovering innovative firms and providing investment and networking opportunities. However, contradictory performance trajectories, such as a decrease in sales after winning an award, are observed in the actual startup ecosystem, which necessitated a quantitative verification of whether competition participation leads to core performance. This study constructed firm-year panel data and applied a DID model, including two-way fixed effects (TWFE), to comparatively analyze performance changes between awarded firms (treatment group) and non-awarded firms (control group) that are similar in technology, size, and industry characteristics.
This research empirically suggests that the effect of competition awards should be interpreted not merely through short-term financial performance, but from the perspective of ‘Strategic Resource Reallocation’ and the ‘time-lag of performance’. It suggests that competition organizing bodies need industry-specific customized follow-up support systems for firms that are highly dependent on technology investment, such as AI firms. Furthermore, it emphasizes that competition success metrics should be expanded to include non-financial performance indicators, such as the success rate of investment attraction and the number of technology partnerships.