Webinar Series

 

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AI as “Co-founder”: GenAI for Entrepreneurship

This paper studies whether, how, and for whom generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) facilitates firm creation. Their identification strategy exploits the November 2022 release of Chat-GPT as a global shock that lowered start-up costs and leverages variations across geo-coded grids with differential pre-existing AI-specific human capital. Using high-resolution and universal data on Chinese firm registrations by the end of 2024, they find that grids with stronger AI-specific human capital experienced a sharp surge in new firm formation—driven entirely by small firms, contributing to 6.0% of overall national firm entry. Large-firm entry declines, consistent with a shift toward leaner ventures. New firms are smaller in capital, shareholder number, and founding team size, especially among small firms. The effects are strongest among firms with potential AI applications, weaker financing needs, and among first-time entrepreneurs. Overall, their results highlight that GenAI serves as a pro-competitive force by disproportionately boosting small-firm entry.

29
Jan
2026
Thursday

Session Chair: Xiaoyan ZHANG
Xinyuan Chair Professor of Finance, Associate Dean, PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University and ABFER

10:00 am
AI as “Co-founder”: GenAI for Entrepreneurship

Wu ZHU, Assistant Professor, Department of Finance, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University

Co-authors:
Jeff Junhui CAI, Patricia and George Scharpf Family Assistant Professor in Real Estate, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
Xian GU, Professor of Finance, Department of Finance, Durham University
Liugang SHENG, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Mengjia XIA, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania
Linda ZHAO, Professor of Statistics and Data Science, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
10:25 am
Discussion
Discussant:
Hui CHEN, Nomura Professor of Finance and Professor of Finance, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
10:50 am
Q&A
11:10 am

Updated 9 Jan 2026

Session Format

Each session lasts for 1 hour 10 minutes (25 minutes for the author, 25 minutes for the discussant and 20 minutes for participants' Q&A). Sessions will be recorded and posted on ABFER website, except in cases where speakers or discussants request us not to.

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