In this dissertation, I examine how state and national policies impact the participation of underrepresented groups in commercialization and entrepreneurial activities. I use empirical methods, experiments, and large datasets to investigate how institutions exacerbate or alleviate existing disparities within the innovation economy. Chapter 1 investigates the impact of state R&D tax credits on the engagement of small high-tech firms with Federal funding opportunities. Combining data on state business registrations and firm enrollment in the Federal System for Award Management (SAM), I examine the effects of state-level policies on firms’ interest in pursuing Federal grants and contracts. A staggered difference-in-difference analysis of state policy adoption shows that state R&D tax credits reduce SAM enrollment for women- and minority-owned high-tech firms (by 6% and 1%) and have no effect on SAM enrollment for non-minority high-tech firms. These findings underscore the need for more effective policy interventions to foster interest among small firms in Federal innovation initiatives and the importance of targeted support for women- and minority-owned firms. In Chapter 2, co-authored with Ina Ganguli and Nilanjana Dasgupta, we examine gender differences in the social impact and commercial motives for academic entrepreneurship using the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (NSF I- Corps) program. Analysis of survey data and 1,267 NSF-funded I-Corps project abstracts, alongside a field experiment manipulating recruitment emails, shows women’s pronounced preference for social impact over commercial motive compared to men. This suggests that low-cost interventions that emphasize the social impact value of entrepreneurial opportunities may increase gender diversity in participation in entrepreneurship activities. In Chapter 3, I investigate the impact of the Small Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC) on new-firm formation in North Carolina’s rural and economically depressed Cleveland County using difference-in-difference and synthetic control methods. I find null effects with difference-in-differences and positive effects with the synthetic controls for Cleveland County for new firm creation. The findings underscore the significance of tailored government policies in catalyzing quality entrepreneurship and resource allocation, particularly in areas lacking robust entrepreneurial frameworks. This investigation contributes to the broader discourse on the strategic deployment of public resources to uplift economically depressed regions.