IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v76y2025ics0275531925000637.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leading or facilitating? —— The appropriate role of governmental venture capital in China

Author

Listed:
  • Xia, Zhoubo
  • Hua, Xiuping
  • Wang, Yong
  • Peng, Jiadong

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of syndicated investments involving governmental venture capital (GVC) and private venture capital firms (PVC) on the success of innovative companies in China. By analysing a comprehensive dataset of small and medium-sized firms in China’s third-tier equity market, the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), we demonstrate that compared to the syndicated investment led by GVC, those GVCs playing a facilitating role have a more significant effect on boosting innovation firms' success in NEEQ. We identify three ways syndications help firms graduate to main stock markets: improving resource allocation, enhancing innovation quality, and lowering agency risk. Further investigation based on a quasi-natural experiment indicates that GVC-facilitating syndication impacts are more pronounced after adopting the Government Investment Regulation in 2018.

Suggested Citation

  • Xia, Zhoubo & Hua, Xiuping & Wang, Yong & Peng, Jiadong, 2025. "Leading or facilitating? —— The appropriate role of governmental venture capital in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925000637
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102807
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531925000637
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102807?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dong, Weijia & Li, Ye & Lv, Xin & Yu, Chang, 2021. "How does venture capital spur the innovation of environmentally friendly firms? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Bubna, Amit & Das, Sanjiv R. & Prabhala, Nagpurnanand, 2020. "Venture Capital Communities," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(2), pages 621-651, March.
    3. A. Smith, Jeffrey & E. Todd, Petra, 2005. "Does matching overcome LaLonde's critique of nonexperimental estimators?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 305-353.
    4. Bertoni, Fabio & Tykvová, Tereza, 2015. "Does governmental venture capital spur invention and innovation? Evidence from young European biotech companies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 925-935.
    5. Nguyen, Giang & Vu, Le, 2021. "Does venture capital syndication affect mergers and acquisitions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    6. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    7. Sergio G. Lazzarini, 2015. "Strategizing by the government: Can industrial policy create firm-level competitive advantage?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 97-112, January.
    8. Sapienza, Paola, 2004. "The effects of government ownership on bank lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 357-384, May.
    9. Cumming, Douglas J. & MacIntosh, Jeffrey G., 2006. "Crowding out private equity: Canadian evidence," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 569-609, September.
    10. Wang, Jue, 2018. "Innovation and government intervention: A comparison of Singapore and Hong Kong," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 399-412.
    11. Emanuele Colonnelli & Mounu Prem, 2022. "Corruption and Firms," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(2), pages 695-732.
    12. Catherine Casamatta, 2003. "Financing and Advising: Optimal Financial Contracts with Venture Capitalists," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 2059-2085, October.
    13. Conte, Danilo & Bussoli, Candida & Hemmings, Danial, 2024. "Responsible risk-taking and the CSP-financial performance relation in the banking sector: A mediation analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    14. Yael V. Hochberg & Alexander Ljungqvist & Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, 2014. "Informational Holdup and Performance Persistence in Venture Capital," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 102-152, January.
    15. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    16. Guo, Di & Guo, Yan & Jiang, Kun, 2016. "Government-subsidized R&D and firm innovation: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1129-1144.
    17. Bottazzi, Laura & Da Rin, Marco & Hellmann, Thomas, 2008. "Who are the active investors?: Evidence from venture capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 488-512, September.
    18. James A. Brander & Qianqian Du & Thomas Hellmann, 2015. "The Effects of Government-Sponsored Venture Capital: International Evidence," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 19(2), pages 571-618.
    19. Bertoni, Fabio & Colombo, Massimo G. & Grilli, Luca, 2011. "Venture capital financing and the growth of high-tech start-ups: Disentangling treatment from selection effects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1028-1043, September.
    20. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Karthik Krishnan & Debarshi K. Nandy, 2011. "How Does Venture Capital Financing Improve Efficiency in Private Firms? A Look Beneath the Surface," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(12), pages 4037-4090.
    21. Dushnitsky, Gary & Yu, Lei, 2022. "Why do incumbents fund startups? A study of the antecedents of corporate venture capital in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(3).
    22. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Strömberg, 2003. "Financial Contracting Theory Meets the Real World: An Empirical Analysis of Venture Capital Contracts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 281-315.
    23. Henry Chen & Paul Gompers & Anna Kovner & Josh Lerner, 2010. "Buy Local? The Geography of Venture Capital," NBER Chapters, in: Cities and Entrepreneurship, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Josh Lerner, 2002. "When Bureaucrats Meet Entrepreneurs: The Design of Effective "Public Venture Capital" Programmes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(477), pages 73-84, February.
    25. Anna Kovner & Josh Lerner, 2015. "Doing Well by Doing Good? Community Development Venture Capital," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 643-663, September.
    26. Josh Lerner, 2009. "The Empirical Impact of Intellectual Property Rights on Innovation: Puzzles and Clues," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 343-348, May.
    27. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Elena Loutskina & Xuan Tian, 2014. "Corporate Venture Capital, Value Creation, and Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(8), pages 2434-2473.
    28. Samila, Sampsa & Sorenson, Olav, 2010. "Venture capital as a catalyst to commercialization," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1348-1360, December.
    29. Shai Bernstein & Xavier Giroud & Richard R. Townsend, 2016. "The Impact of Venture Capital Monitoring," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(4), pages 1591-1622, August.
    30. 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.
    31. Fabio Bertoni & Massimo G. Colombo & Anita Quas, 2019. "The Role of Governmental Venture Capital in the Venture Capital Ecosystem: An Organizational Ecology Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(3), pages 611-628, May.
    32. Guerini, Massimiliano & Quas, Anita, 2016. "Governmental venture capital in Europe: Screening and certification," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 175-195.
    33. Samuel Kortum & Josh Lerner, 2000. "Assessing the Contribution of Venture Capital to Innovation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 674-692, Winter.
    34. Mark Lang & Karl V. Lins & Mark Maffett, 2012. "Transparency, Liquidity, and Valuation: International Evidence on When Transparency Matters Most," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 50(3), pages 729-774, June.
    35. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Stromberg, 2001. "Venture Capitalists As Principals: Contracting, Screening, and Monitoring," NBER Working Papers 8202, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Dushnitsky, Gary & Lenox, Michael J., 2006. "When does corporate venture capital investment create firm value?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 753-772, November.
    37. Giang Nguyen & Le Vu, 2021. "Does Venture Capital Syndication affect Mergers and Acquisitions?," Post-Print hal-04325668, HAL.
    38. Admati, Anat R & Pfleiderer, Paul & Zechner, Josef, 1994. "Large Shareholder Activism, Risk Sharing, and Financial Market Equilibrium," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1097-1130, December.
    39. Lerner, Josh, 1995. "Venture Capitalists and the Oversight of Private Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 301-318, March.
    40. Alperovych, Yan & Groh, Alexander & Quas, Anita, 2020. "Bridging the equity gap for young innovative companies: The design of effective government venture capital fund programs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(10).
    41. Gorman, Michael & Sahlman, William A., 1989. "What do venture capitalists do?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 231-248, July.
    42. Chen, Shuping & Huang, Ying & Li, Ningzhong & Shevlin, Terry, 2019. "How does quasi-indexer ownership affect corporate tax planning?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 278-296.
    43. Shang-Jin Wei & Zhuan Xie & Xiaobo Zhang, 2017. "From "Made in China" to "Innovated in China": Necessity, Prospect, and Challenges," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 49-70, Winter.
    44. Yael V. Hochberg & Alexander Ljungqvist & Yang Lu, 2007. "Whom You Know Matters: Venture Capital Networks and Investment Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 251-301, February.
    45. Michael Ewens & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, 2015. "Is a VC Partnership Greater Than the Sum of Its Partners?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(3), pages 1081-1113, June.
    46. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:2059-2086 is not listed on IDEAS
    47. Chong-En Bai & Jiangyong Lu & Zhigang Tao, 2006. "The Multitask Theory of State Enterprise Reform: Empirical Evidence from China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 353-357, May.
    48. Lerner, Josh, 1999. "The Government as Venture Capitalist: The Long-Run Impact of the SBIR Program," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(3), pages 285-318, July.
    49. Wang, Rouzhi & Wu, Chaopeng, 2020. "Politician as venture capitalist: Politically-connected VCs and IPO activity in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    50. Thomas Hellmann, 1998. "The Allocation of Control Rights in Venture Capital Contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(1), pages 57-76, Spring.
    51. Grilli, Luca & Murtinu, Samuele, 2014. "Government, venture capital and the growth of European high-tech entrepreneurial firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1523-1543.
    52. Mara Faccio, 2006. "Politically Connected Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 369-386, March.
    53. Suchard, Jo-Ann & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Cao, Xiaping, 2021. "Government ownership and Venture Capital in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    54. Leleux, Benoit & Surlemont, Bernard, 2003. "Public versus private venture capital: seeding or crowding out? A pan-European analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 81-104, January.
    55. Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & Liu, Liuling & Wu, Qiang & Zhao, Yijiang, 2021. "Financial analysts' career concerns and the cost of private debt," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    56. Colin Mason & Ross Brown, 2013. "Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 211-225, February.
    57. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Stromberg, 2001. "Venture Capitals As Principals: Contracting, Screening, and Monitoring," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 426-430, May.
    58. Zhang, Yuejia & Mayes, David Geoffrey, 2018. "The performance of governmental venture capital firms: A life cycle perspective and evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 162-185.
    59. Cumming, Douglas J. & Grilli, Luca & Murtinu, Samuele, 2017. "Governmental and independent venture capital investments in Europe: A firm-level performance analysis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 439-459.
    60. Scott J. Wallsten, 2000. "The Effects of Government-Industry R&D Programs on Private R&D: The Case of the Small Business Innovation Research Program," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(1), pages 82-100, Spring.
    61. Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Atif Mian, 2005. "Do Lenders Favor Politically Connected Firms? Rent Provision in an Emerging Financial Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(4), pages 1371-1411.
    62. Guan, JianCheng & Yam, Richard C.M., 2015. "Effects of government financial incentives on firms’ innovation performance in China: Evidences from Beijing in the 1990s," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 273-282.
    63. Sun, Yutao & Cao, Cong, 2018. "The evolving relations between government agencies of innovation policymaking in emerging economies: A policy network approach and its application to the Chinese case," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 592-605.
    64. Pranab Bardhan, 2016. "State and Development: The Need for a Reappraisal of the Current Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(3), pages 862-892, 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. Ge, Guoqing & Xue, Jian & Zhang, Qian, 2024. "Industrial policy and governmental venture capital: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Suchard, Jo-Ann & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Cao, Xiaping, 2021. "Government ownership and Venture Capital in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    3. Iqbal Muhammad & Stéphanie Serve, 2025. "Performance of government venture capital (GVC): an Asian perspective," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-34, December.
    4. Annalisa Croce & Jose Martí & Carmelo Reverte, 2019. "The role of private versus governmental venture capital in fostering job creation during the crisis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 879-900, December.
    5. Rin, Marco Da & Hellmann, Thomas & Puri, Manju, 2013. "A Survey of Venture Capital Research," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 573-648, Elsevier.
    6. Alperovych, Yan & Groh, Alexander & Quas, Anita, 2020. "Bridging the equity gap for young innovative companies: The design of effective government venture capital fund programs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(10).
    7. Guerini, Massimiliano & Quas, Anita, 2016. "Governmental venture capital in Europe: Screening and certification," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 175-195.
    8. Zhang, Jing & Fan, Yueqi & Liu, Ye, 2024. "The effects of government venture capital: New evidence from China based on a two-sided matching structural model," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Huang, Xiaoxia & Jiang, Yanchen & Mallick, Sushanta, 2025. "Endorsement and firm financing: Evidence from government venture capital market in China," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(3).
    11. Ge, Guoqing & Xue, Jian & Zhang, Qian, 2025. "Syndicate partner composition of governmental venture capital firms: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Valérie Revest & Alessandro Sapio, 2012. "Financing technology-based small firms in Europe: what do we know?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 179-205, July.
    13. Zhang, Yuxin & Zhou, Yaodong, 2025. "The impact of government industrial funds on the innovation of SMEs in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    14. Engberg, Erik & Halvarsson, Daniel & Tingvall, Patrik, 2017. "Direct and Indirect Effects of Private- and Government Sponsored Venture Capital," Ratio Working Papers 288, The Ratio Institute.
    15. Andrew Metrick & Ayako Yasuda, 2011. "Venture Capital and Other Private Equity: a Survey," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 619-654, September.
    16. Tereza Tykvová, 2018. "Venture capital and private equity financing: an overview of recent literature and an agenda for future research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 325-362, May.
    17. Grilli, Luca & Murtinu, Samuele, 2014. "Government, venture capital and the growth of European high-tech entrepreneurial firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1523-1543.
    18. Erik Engberg & Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall & Daniel Halvarsson, 2021. "Direct and indirect effects of private- and government-sponsored venture capital," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 701-735, February.
    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. Kyounghun Lee & Frederick Dongchuhl Oh & Donglim Shin & Heejin Yoon, 2023. "Does venture capital investment enhance corporate innovation? Evidence from Korea," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 236-266, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

    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:eee:riibaf:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925000637. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    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.