Global Entrepreneurial Talent Flows: Widely Funded, Selectively Successful?

Paul Gompers and Henry Woo

No 35943, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Immigrant founders of US venture-backed startups exit successfully more often than native founders. Does this hold worldwide? Using career histories for 913,226 founder-firm pairs in 213 countries (1990–2026), we compare founders who build abroad (expats) or return home after foreign experience (returnees) with comparable local founders in the same country. Both expats and returnees raise early funding more often globally. Expats' success premium, however, concentrates in the US (18 percent) and UK (26 percent), especially among those entering the US through graduate school, work, or direct founding. Returnees rarely show such a premium. Capital follows mobile founders across borders, but success follows them selectively.

JEL-codes: F22 G24 J24 J6 J60 J61 J69 L26 O57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-ent, nep-lma, nep-mig and nep-sbm
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