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Buy local? The geography of venture capital

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Listed:
  • Chen, Henry
  • Gompers, Paul
  • Kovner, Anna
  • Lerner, Josh

Abstract

We document geographic concentration by both venture capital firms and venture capital-financed companies in three metropolitan areas: San Francisco, Boston, and New York. We find that venture capital firms locate in regions with high success rates of venture capital-backed investments. Geography is also significantly related to outcomes. Venture capital firms based in locales that are venture capital centers outperform, regardless of the stage of the investment. This outperformance arises from outsized performance outside of the venture capital firms' office locations, including in peripheral locations. If the goal of state and local policy makers is to encourage venture capital investment, outperformance of non-local investments suggests that policy makers might want to mitigate costs associated with established venture capitalists investing in their geographies rather than encouraging the establishment of new venture capital firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Henry & Gompers, Paul & Kovner, Anna & Lerner, Josh, 2010. "Buy local? The geography of venture capital," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 90-102, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:67:y:2010:i:1:p:90-102
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship Performance measurement Start-ups Private equity Localization;

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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