1차 벤처붐의 성과에 대한 역사적 고찰과 평가 = A Study on Historical Review and Evaluation of the Achievements of the First Venture Boom

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The government and industry have been working hard to create a second venture boom to implement the Korea’s creative economy. A superior strategy is needed to troubleshoot the problems of growth and employment and help bring about a second venture boom; anything short of that will fail to revive the venture industry. The starting point for any such policy must come from the historical evaluation of, and proper reflection upon, the first venture boom in 2000. Through this process of analysis, the positive lessons can be utilized, and the problems with the original model fixed, so that a second venture boom can be nurtured in Korea. In early 2000, Korea formed a world-class venture ecosystem, closely followed by the United States. Prior to this venture boom, a new market KOSDAQ was launched in 1996, just the second of its kind in the world, led by the Government and the Korean Venture Business Association which had been established in 1995. The government also enacted the Venture Special Act to lay a strong foundation for fostering the venture industry. At the time, the Internet revolution and the global IT boom resulted in a surge in NASDAQ and the KOSDAQ also benefited from this boom, mirroring the world economic paradigm that began in the 1990s and reflecting the transition from a production economy to the creative economy. Indeed, the first venture boom led by Public-private joint policy in Korea made a vital contribution towards overcoming the unprecedented IMF crisis in 1997. However, when the global IT bubble collapsed in 2001, it took NASDAQ and KOSDAQ with it, and signaled the end of the venture boom. The original venture boom caused many social phenomena, including the birth, growth, and disappearance of a number of ventures. After Korean government announcing so-called “the Venture Rehabilitation Policy” in 2002, Korea’s venture ecosystem entered into recession. Partial market failure has boosted the economic failure of the government badly. In the mean time, the U.S. market has gone through a natural adjustment period; since 2003, the NASDAQ has been restored, but KOSDAQ is still suffering. The policy led by government can be part of the cause of difference between the stock index of the two new market. The purpose of this study is to try to assess the performance and evaluation of the historical significance of the first venture boom in terms of the economic paradigm of transition. It will also evaluate historically how the first venture boom and subsequent measures have changed the landscape of Korea’s venture ecosystem. The research method is to analyze the economic performance of venture companies in terms of their revenues, added values. Their numerical data will provide the objective evaluation of this study. The results will show that the first venture boom reflects the transition of the economic paradigm to the creative economy, and the KOSDAQ and the Venture Special Act have played a key role in forming a venture boom. However, the conservative venture policies of the government after the first venture boom has weakened the venture ecosystem and delayed the transition to the creative economy. On the other hand, through this period called “the ice age of ventures,” the growth of the numbers of venture companies has led Korea’s economic growth as well as creating new jobs. Accordingly, the policy of the second venture boom should be composed of two parts: 1) policies designed to restore the ecosystem of the first venture boom, 2) additional supplemental policies to reflect new realities in the economy.