Does venture capital stimulate the innovation of China's new energy enterprises?

With a sample of the listed new energy (NE) enterprises in China (2010–2017), this paper investigates the impact of venture capital on NE enterprises innovation by applying the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) model and Poisson model. The results indicate that venture capital has a positive and significant impact on the innovation of NE enterprises, among which the innovation incentive effect of government participation and joint venture capital is more significant. Compared with non-government participation venture capital, single venture capital and non-local investment, government participation venture capital, joint venture capital and local investment are more conducive to promoting the increase of patent applications of NE enterprises. Besides, local investment conducted by government participation venture capital and joint venture capital have a more significant innovation incentive effect of NE enterprises. This paper not only reveals the impact of venture capital on the innovation of NE enterprises, but also provides the empirical basis for the government to adopt the market instrument to promote the development of NE industry.