Green Entrepreneurship

Abstract

We link U.S. startups to their patents and trademarks to track green entrepreneurship over four decades. The share of startups founded in each decade that create green intellectual property rises from 1.6% in the 1980s to 4.7% in the 2010s. Green patents rise from 15% of startups’ patent filings in 1980 to 25% in 2023; green trademarks rise from 2% to 5%. States differ sharply in the number and share of startups with green intellectual property and in the environmental language startups use to describe themselves. We then study three forces behind this growth: investor mandates, public attention to climate risks, and policy incentives. Sustainability mandates adopted by public pension funds raise green patenting; natural disasters in neighboring counties raise green startup formation; and local green investment under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act raises both green trademarking and green startup formation.

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