Ethnic Enclave and Entrepreneurial Financing: Asian Venture Capitalists in Silicon Valley
研究了亚洲风险投资家在硅谷的投资行为，发现他们更倾向于投资亚洲创业者，且为主流企业支付更高估值，这源于较低的社会地位而非网络劣势。
Research summary We examine the dilemma of ethnic investors in using ethnic network ties to invest by extending the ‘ethnic enclave’ concept to incorporate two dimensions: social network and social status. Our analysis of the first round of venture capital funding in Silicon Valley from 1976 to 2004 shows a higher likelihood of Asian venture capitalists (VCs) investing in Asian‐led ventures than mainstream VCs. In addition, the valuation of their investments in mainstream ventures is higher than those by mainstream VCs in such ventures. In contrast, this premium effect is not observed when mainstream VCs invest in Asian ventures. These asymmetrical findings suggest the premium Asian VCs pay to compete in the mainstream venture market is due to their lower social status rather than their social network disadvantages. Managerial summary Do ethnic minority investors behave differently from more mainstream investors? We examine this question by studying the venture capital industry in Silicon Valley over the period 1976 to 2004. We found that Asian venture capitalists (VCs) were more likely to invest in immigrant Asian entrepreneurs than mainstream VCs, and when they did invest in mainstream ventures, they paid higher valuations than mainstream VCs. In contrast, mainstream VCs did not pay higher average valuations compared to Asian VCs when they invested in Asian ventures. We show that two social factors—the ethnic minority VCs' social network ties and their lower social status—could have contributed to such behavioral differences. Copyright © 2016 Strategic Management Society.