| dc.description.abstract | STUD-ENT does not enhance performance in startups other than boosting total sales income, this is what our findings suggest. Previous studies from a Norwegian context are split, while in other contexts the literature suggests a more positive impact on firm performance. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Norwegian government supported grant STUD-ENT. More specifically, our research question to be answered is: “Are there any differences in performance between the receivers and non-receivers of STUD-ENT?". To determine if there are any differences we are testing if there are any differences in status (active/inactive), total employees registered, total sales income, return on assets and asset growth between the applicants, which is based on previous literature on startup performance.
We use non-parametric tests (Chi-Square Test for Independence, Mann-Whitney U Test and Kruskal-Wallis Test) as our data is limited and skewed to test whether receivers of STUD-ENT outperform non-receivers based on the performance measures mentioned above. The empirical study is based on data from 156 startups seeking STUD-ENT between 2016 and 2021, through Research Council Norway. In addition, we are examining if there are any differences in performance between the firms based on the industry they are operating in and the county they are registered in.
Our results indicate that there are minimal differences between receivers and non-receivers of STUD-ENT in performance. Total sales income is significantly larger for receivers than non-receivers, however, none of the other performance measures are significant. This indicates that STUD-ENT should be further assessed in to determine whether STUD-ENT should continue to operate in the same manner, or change. | |