Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Will Vcs Invest At A Distance During And After A Crisis? Evidence From The 2008 Financial Crisis, Samuel Wilson, Christopher Willis, Jing Zhang

College of Business (Strome) Posters

We will explore how large-scale exogenous crises impact venture capital firms’ investment scope decisions during and after a crisis. We will analyze a population of 11,564 funding rounds announced between 2005Q1 until 2012Q4 in the US. Analysis shows that the 2008 Financial Crisis caused a short-term change in the geographical areas where VCs invest, and after the crisis firms tend to look further afield to locate viable investment targets. This study will contribute to entrepreneurial finance research by offering theoretical and empirical insights on how major crises affect venture capital investment and entrepreneurial activities.