We show that small innovators (i.e., small firms with recent patent grants) earn higher future returns than small non-innovators. However, we find no such innovation premium among large firms. The higher returns are driven by risk, not underreaction to announcements of recent patent grants. We find that being small and innovative interacts with financial constraints to explain the higher returns. These interactions are more important in the presence of greater information asymmetry. The higher cost of equity among small innovators has implications for their investment, growth, and capital structure decisions.

中文翻译：

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小创新者：没有风险，没有回报

我们表明，小型创新者（即最近获得专利授权的小公司）比小型非创新者获得更高的未来回报。然而，我们发现在大公司中没有这样的创新溢价。较高的回报是由风险驱动的，而不是对近期专利授权公告的反应不足。我们发现，规模小和创新与财务约束相互作用，以解释更高的回报。在存在更大的信息不对称性的情况下，这些相互作用更为重要。小型创新者较高的股权成本对其投资、增长和资本结构决策产生了影响。