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What do they think and what do they say? Gender bias, entrepreneurial attitude in writing and venture capitalists’ funding decisions

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  • Malmström, Malin
  • Voitkane, Aija
  • Johansson, Jeaneth
  • Wincent, Joakim

Abstract

This study shows that women may be at a disadvantage when signaling that they are “entrepreneurial” to venture capitalists. We demonstrate how gender-based disadvantages may arise from role incongruence in entrepreneurship by analyzing multi-source data from 131 venture capital applications, venture capitalists’ cognitions, and their funding decisions. Our analysis indicates that women who signal an entrepreneurial attitude are more likely to elicit prevention considerations from venture capitalists, whereas men who signal such an attitude are more likely to elicit promotion considerations. We also find that promotion considerations increase the amount of financing, whereas prevention considerations decrease the amount of financing. Our study increases knowledge about the gendered cognitions that underlie implicit bias among investors and knowledge about the effects of regulatory focus on funding outcomes by exploring the interaction between gender and entrepreneurial attitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Malmström, Malin & Voitkane, Aija & Johansson, Jeaneth & Wincent, Joakim, 2020. "What do they think and what do they say? Gender bias, entrepreneurial attitude in writing and venture capitalists’ funding decisions," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:13:y:2020:i:c:s2352673419301295
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2019.e00154
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Pavlova, Elitsa & Gvetadze, Salome, 2023. "Female access to finance: A survey of literature," EIF Working Paper Series 2022/87, European Investment Fund (EIF).
    6. Aaron H. Anglin & Christopher Courtney & Thomas H. Allison, 2022. "Venturing for Others, Subject to Role Expectations? A Role Congruity Theory Approach to Social Venture Crowd Funding," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(2), pages 421-448, March.
    7. Lauto, Giancarlo & Salvador, Elisa & Visintin, Francesca, 2022. "For what they are, not for what they bring: The signaling value of gender for financial resource acquisition in academic spin-offs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    8. Luca Pistilli & Alessia Paccagnini & Stefano Breschi & Franco Malerba, 2023. "Gender Bias in Entrepreneurship: What is the Role of the Founders’ Entrepreneurial Background?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(2), pages 325-346, October.
    9. Cowden, Birton & Karami, Masoud & Tang, Jintong & Ye, Wenping & Adomako, Samuel, 2023. "The gendered effects of effectuation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    10. Muhammad Farhan Jalil & Azlan Ali & Rashidah Kamarulzaman, 2023. "The influence of psychological capital and social capital on women entrepreneurs’ intentions: the mediating role of attitude," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
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