Making free speech protections stronger actually leads to fewer new businesses being started.
April 2, 2026
Original Paper
Civic Liberties and Entrepreneurial Outcomes
SSRN · 6400278
The Takeaway
While you might think protecting speech would encourage entrepreneurship, anti-SLAPP laws actually deter low-quality startups from entering the market by raising the 'cost of opacity.' This leads to fewer total companies but higher innovation and fewer bankruptcies among those that remain.
From the abstract
We examine the microfoundations of how free speech protections shape entrepreneurial outcomes. Exploiting staggered adoption and cross-state variation in the strength of U.S. anti-SLAPP statutes between 1990 and 2020, we study their effects on venture formation, financing, innovation, and exit outcomes using data on over 18,000 private firms. Anti-SLAPP laws reduce venture entry by 22% but have no effect on aggregate venture capital investment, IPO activity, or IPO pricing. Bankruptcies and acqu