IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/tufwps/200607.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does venture capital investment really require spatial proximity? An empirical investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Fritsch, Michael
  • Schilder, Dirk

Abstract

We examine the role of spatial proximity for Venture Capital (VC) investments in Germany. The main database is a survey of 85 personal interviews with representatives of different types of financial institutions. The analysis shows that spatial proximity is far less important for VC investments than is often believed. For example, the results indicate that syndication is partly used as an alternative to spatial proximity. Telecommunication does not work as a substitute for face-to-face contact. On the whole, regional proximity is not a dominant factor in VC partnerships. Therefore, the absence of VC firms in a region does not appear to cause a severe regional equity gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Fritsch, Michael & Schilder, Dirk, 2006. "Does venture capital investment really require spatial proximity? An empirical investigation," Freiberg Working Papers 2006/07, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:tufwps:200607
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/27101/1/511436335.PDF
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Fritsch & Dirk Schilder, 2006. "Is Venture Capital a regional business? – The role of syndication," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2006-25, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    2. James O. Fiet, 1995. "Risk Avoidance Strategies In Venture Capital Markets," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 551-574, July.
    3. Dorothea Schäfer & Dirk Schilder, 2008. "Smart capital in German start-ups -- an empirical analysis," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 163-183, August.
    4. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2000. "Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending," NBER Working Papers 7685, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    6. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2002. "Taking risks in regions: the geographical anatomy of Europe's emerging venture capital market," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 121-150, April.
    7. Walter Powell & Kenneth Koput & James Bowie & Laurel Smith-Doerr, 2002. "The Spatial Clustering of Science and Capital: Accounting for Biotech Firm-Venture Capital Relationships," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 291-305.
    8. Rebecca Harding, 2000. "Venture capital and regional development: Towards a venture capital 'system'," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(4), pages 287-311, October.
    9. Michael Fritsch & Viktor Slavtchev, 2005. "The Role of Regional Knowledge for Innovation," ERSA conference papers ersa05p623, European Regional Science Association.
    10. De Clercq, Dirk & Sapienza, Harry J., 2006. "Effects of relational capital and commitment on venture capitalists' perception of portfolio company performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 326-347, May.
    11. James A. Brander & Raphael Amit & Werner Antweiler, 2002. "Venture‐Capital Syndication: Improved Venture Selection vs. The Value‐Added Hypothesis," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 423-452, September.
    12. Zacharakis, Andrew L. & Meyer, G. Dale, 1998. "A lack of insight: do venture capitalists really understand their own decision process?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 57-76, January.
    13. Thomas Hellmann & Manju Puri, 2002. "Venture Capital and the Professionalization of Start‐Up Firms: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 169-197, February.
    14. Mike Wright & Andy Lockett, 2003. "The Structure and Management of Alliances: Syndication in the Venture Capital Industry," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 2073-2102, December.
    15. Bascha, Andreas & Walz, Uwe, 2002. "Financing practices in the German venture capital industry: An empirical assessment," CFS Working Paper Series 2002/08, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    16. Lerner, Josh, 1995. "Venture Capitalists and the Oversight of Private Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 301-318, March.
    17. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2002. "Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2533-2570, December.
    18. Alan Doran & Graham Bannock, 2000. "Publicly sponsored regional venture capital: what can the UK learn from the US experience?," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(4), pages 255-285, October.
    19. Sapienza, Harry J. & Manigart, Sophie & Vermeir, Wim, 1996. "Venture capitalist governance and value added in four countries," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(6), pages 439-469, November.
    20. Peter Sunley & Britta Klagge & Christian Berndt & Ron Martin, 2005. "Venture capital programmes in the UK and Germany: In what sense regional policies?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 255-273.
    21. Lockett, Andy & Wright, Mike, 2001. "The syndication of venture capital investments," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 375-390, October.
    22. Schäfer, Dorothea & Schilder, Dirk, 2006. "Informed capital in a hostile environment: the case of relational investors in Germany," Freiberg Working Papers 2006/03, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    23. Sahlman, William A., 1990. "The structure and governance of venture-capital organizations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 473-521, October.
    24. Slavtchev, Viktor & Fritsch, Michael, 2005. "The Role of Regional Knowledge Sources for Innovation: An Empirical Assessment," Freiberg Working Papers 2005/15, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    25. Gompers, Paul A, 1995. "Optimal Investment, Monitoring, and the Staging of Venture Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1461-1489, December.
    26. Paul Gompers & Josh Lerner, 2001. "The Venture Capital Revolution," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 145-168, Spring.
    27. Tykvová, Tereza, 2004. "Who Are the True Venture Capitalists in Germany?," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-16, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    28. Joshua Lerner, 1994. "The Syndication of Venture Capital Investments," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 23(3), Fall.
    29. Sapienza, Harry J., 1992. "When do venture capitalists add value?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 9-27, January.
    30. Ron Martin & Christian Berndt & Britta Klagge & Peter Sunley, 2005. "Spatial Proximity Effects and Regional Equity Gaps in the Venture Capital Market: Evidence from Germany and the United Kingdom," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(7), pages 1207-1231, July.
    31. Schilder, Dirk, 2006. "Public venture capital in Germany: task force or forced task?," Freiberg Working Papers 2006/12, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    32. Gupta, Anil K. & Sapienza, Harry J., 1992. "Determinants of venture capital firms' preferences regarding the industry diversity and geographic scope of their investments," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 347-362, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schilder, Dirk, 2007. "Venture capital syndicate networks: the determinants of interconnectedness," Freiberg Working Papers 2007/03, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    2. Michael Fritsch & Dirk Schilder, 2012. "The Regional Supply of Venture Capital: Can Syndication Overcome Bottlenecks?," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 88(1), pages 59-76, January.
    3. Schilder, Dirk, 2006. "Public venture capital in Germany: task force or forced task?," Freiberg Working Papers 2006/12, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    4. Dorothea Schäfer & Dirk Schilder, 2008. "Smart capital in German start-ups -- an empirical analysis," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 163-183, August.
    5. Michael Fritsch & Dirk Schilder, 2006. "Is Venture Capital a regional business? – The role of syndication," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2006-25, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    6. Dorothea Schäfer & Dirk Schilder, 2006. "Informed Capital in a Hostile Environment: The Case of Relational Investors in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 549, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Jens Burchardt & Ulrich Hommel & Dzidziso Samuel Kamuriwo & Carolina Billitteri, 2016. "Venture Capital Contracting in Theory and Practice: Implications for Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(1), pages 25-48, January.
    8. Dimo Dimov & Dirk De Clercq, 2006. "Venture Capital Investment Strategy and Portfolio Failure Rate: A Longitudinal Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(2), pages 207-223, March.
    9. Douglas Cumming & Sofia Johan, 2007. "Advice and monitoring in venture finance," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 21(1), pages 3-43, March.
    10. Bender, Marko & Lutz, Eva, 2009. "Patterns in spatial proximity between venture capital investors and investees in Germany: an empirical analysis," CEFS Working Paper Series 2009-06, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    11. Lei Zhang, 2019. "Founders Matter! Serial Entrepreneurs and Venture Capital Syndicate Formation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(5), pages 974-998, September.
    12. Rosenbusch, Nina & Brinckmann, Jan & Müller, Verena, 2013. "Does acquiring venture capital pay off for the funded firms? A meta-analysis on the relationship between venture capital investment and funded firm financial performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 335-353.
    13. Alperovych, Yan & Hübner, Georges & Lobet, Fabrice, 2015. "How does governmental versus private venture capital backing affect a firm's efficiency? Evidence from Belgium," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 508-525.
    14. Lohwasser, Todor S., 2020. "Meta-analyzing the relative performance of venture capital-backed firms," Discussion Papers of the Institute for Organisational Economics 4/2020, University of Münster, Institute for Organisational Economics.
    15. Johannes Wallmeroth & Peter Wirtz & Alexander Peter Groh, 2017. "Institutional Seed Financing, Angel Financing, and Crowdfunding of Entrepreneurial Ventures: A Literature Review," Working Papers hal-01527999, HAL.
    16. Michel Ferrary, 2010. "Syndication of Venture Capital Investment: The Art of Resource Pooling," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(5), pages 885-908, September.
    17. Douglas Cumming & Sofia Johan, 2006. "Provincial preferences in private equity," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 20(4), pages 369-398, December.
    18. Casamatta, Catherine & Haritchabalet, Carole, 2007. "Experience, screening and syndication in venture capital investments," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 368-398, July.
    19. Munari, Federico & Toschi, Laura, 2015. "Assessing the impact of public venture capital programmes in the United Kingdom: Do regional characteristics matter?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 205-226.
    20. Mikko Jääskeläinen & Markku Maula & Tuukka Seppä, 2006. "Allocation of Attention to Portfolio Companies and the Performance of Venture Capital Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(2), pages 185-206, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Venture Capital; spatial proximity; start-up financing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:tufwps:200607. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwfrede.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.