Stefan Weik
Stefan Weik
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Assistant Professor of Finance
Assistant Professor, 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 the internal organization of firms. Using data on over 10,000 U.S. PE buyouts combined with resume information of more than five million employees, we track changes in hierarchies, managerial control spans, and functional structure. Contrary to a widely cited view that PE streamlines and flattens organizations, we find that hierarchies become deeper after buyouts and managerial control spans shrink. PE-owned firms reallocate employment from product-related functions toward administrative and operative roles, while management expands into more specialized functions. These organizational changes hold across deal types and outcomes and persist after PE exits. Overall, our evidence suggests that PE buyouts create value by strengthening firms' organizational capabilities-enhancing how tasks and decision-making are structured and coordinated within the firm-rather than concentrating decision-making in flatter hierarchies.
Presentations: AFA 2027, NFA 2026, St.Gallen Financial Economics Workshop, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 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
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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