The size premium has been accused of having a weak historical record, being meager relative to other factors, varying significantly over time, weakening after its discovery, being concentrated among microcap stocks, residing predominantly in January, relying on price-based measures, and being weak internationally. We find, however, that these challenges disappear when controlling for the quality, or its inverse, junk, of a firm. A significant size premium emerges, which is stable through time, robust to specification, not concentrated in microcaps, more consistent across seasons, and evident for non-price-based measures of size, and these results hold in 30 different industries and 24 international equity markets. The resurrected size effect is on par with anomalies such as value and momentum in terms of economic significance and gives rise to new tests of, and challenges for, existing asset pricing theories.

We explore the market for lending to start-ups and two mechanisms that facilitate trade within it: (1) the salability of patent collateral and (2) the credible commitment of equity investors. Intensified trading in the secondary patent market is strongly related to lending, particularly for start-ups with more redeployable patent assets. Utilizing the crash of 2000 as a severe and unexpected capital supply shock for venture capitalists, we further show that lenders continue to finance start-ups with recently funded investors better able to credibly commit to refinance their portfolio companies while withdrawing from otherwise promising projects that could have needed their funds the most.