Stefan Weik
Stefan Weik
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Assistant Professor of Finance
University of St.Gallen, Center for Financial Services Innovation (FSI)
Faculty Member, Swiss Finance Institute (SFI)
Research Affiliate, Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS)
Research field: Private Equity · Venture Capital
Working Papers
Working Papers
with Stefan Obernberger and Xiang Yin
We study how private equity (PE) buyouts reshape firms' internal organization. Combining data on over 10,000 U.S. PE buyouts with resume histories of more than five million employees, we track changes in hierarchies, control spans, and functional structure. Contrary to the widely cited view that PE streamlines and flattens organizations, we find that hierarchies deepen and control spans narrow. Administrative and coordination-intensive functions expand relative to product-related functions. Executive teams grow and become more specialized. These organizational changes persist after PE exits. Overall, the evidence suggests that PE investors build organization capital by improving coordination and decision-making within firms.
Presentations: AFA 2027, NFA 2026, St.Gallen Financial Economics Workshop, inaugural German Finance Workshop, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of St.Gallen
This paper uses novel data on U.S. migration among 11.000 European startups to identify Europe's main disadvantages in startup performance. I use positive sorting in migration as an identification strategy: because of positive sorting, the simple cross-sectional comparison gives an upper bound on the effect of the U.S. ecosystem compared to Europe. Results show that U.S. migrants are no more likely to achieve a successful exit, but if they do, they are larger, more innovative, and more mature than stayers. U.S. migrants achieve this maturity not through an immediate revenue boost, but by raising more capital and going through a deeper and longer valley of financial losses. Furthermore, a large part of the difference in innovation and scale can be explained by the U.S. funding advantage. Overall, these findings are consistent with the main difference between the ecosystems being more risk-tolerant and patient venture capital in the U.S. that enables the funding of riskier, more innovative "moonshot" projects.
Awards: Best PhD Paper ENTFIN 2023, TUM Research Fest Best Paper 2023
Presentations: EFA 2024, AEA 2024 poster, European Commission DG Innovation, European Commission Joint Research Center, ifo Institute Munich, ENTFIN 2023, Politecnico Milano
*Presentations include scheduled and by co-authors.
Peer-reviewed Publications
Peer-reviewed Publications
Venture Capital and the International Relocation of Startups
Venture Capital and the International Relocation of Startups
with Reiner Braun and Ann-Kristin Achleitner
Featured by: European Commission Innovation Agenda, Draghi Report, German Startup Strategy, PitchBook, Handelsblatt, Wirtschaftswoche
Work-in-progress
Work-in-progress
Jensen LBOs
Jensen LBOs
with Tim Jenkinson and Reiner Braun
Presentations: PERC 2025, PERC Asia 2026
Individual Careers in Venture Capital
Individual Careers in Venture Capital
with Svenja Barth and Reiner Braun
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