Invest Local or Remote? The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Venture Capital Investment Around the World
中文摘要
我们发现新冠疫情导致风险投资 (VC) 出现"距离消亡"现象:在新冠封锁期间,风险投资机构会投资于距离更远的初创企业,且这一效应在经济重新开放后仍然持续。当互联网基础设施更完善、风险投资机构与创业者之间的信息不对称程度更低、交易规模更小时,距离消亡现象更为明显。疫情推动的远程通信技术进步及其采用促成了本文记录的这些观察结果。风险投资中的距离消亡意味着外部风险投资机构更活跃地进入地域性市场、风险投资机构之间竞争加剧,以及创业者获得风险投资融资的区域不平等得到缓解。本文由 Will Cong (金融) 接收。资助:P. Han 感谢国家自然科学基金 [资助号 72103003] 的资助。C. Liu 感谢国家自然科学基金 [资助号 72202034] 的资助。X. Tian 感谢国家自然科学基金国家杰出青年科学基金 [资助号 72425002] 的资助。补充材料:在线附录和数据文件可在 https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.04374 获取。
Abstract
We find the “death of distance” in venture capital (VC) investment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic: VCs invest in more distant startups during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and such effects continue after the economy reopens. The death of distance is more pronounced when there is better internet infrastructure, lower information asymmetry between VCs and entrepreneurs, and smaller deal size. The pandemic-spurred advancement and adoption of remote communication technology contribute to the documented observations. The death of distance in VC investment implies more vibrant entry of outside VCs into geographically localized markets, intensified competition among VCs, and mitigated regional inequality of entrepreneurial access to VC financing. This paper was accepted by Will Cong, finance. Funding: P. Han acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72103003]. C. Liu acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72202034]. X. Tian acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists [Grant 72425002]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.04374 .