Speaker:

Professor Mario Daniele Amore, Bocconi University

Title:

The Role of Economic Preferences in Venture Capital Decision-Making

Date:

Wednesday 7 June 2023

Venue:

2.214

Time:

11:45 – 13:15 (GMT)

Abstract:

Despite a large literature on entrepreneurial finance, we know little about how venture capitalists’ individual traits shape their investment decisions. This void is due to the paucity of data and the difficulty of accessing individual information on investors. We conduct a largescale survey of venture capitalists in Europe to study for the first time the role of economic preferences in venture capitalists’ decision-making. Our analysis reveals that more patient venture capitalists invest in firms at an earlier stage of development, whereas risk-averse venture capitalists invest in more mature firms. These two traits provide different pathways to success: risk-averse investors are more likely to exit via trade sale, whereas patient investors exit more often via IPO. An IPO is most likely when investors are patient while also prone to take risk.

Biography:

I am Full Professor at Bocconi University and Director of the PhD Program in Business Administration & Management at Bocconi University. I am Research Affiliate at the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and Research Member at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECCGI). I hold a PhD in Economics and Management from Copenhagen Business School. I currently serve as Associate Editor of Management Science and Journal of Corporate Finance, and Editorial Review Board Member of Strategic Management Journal. My research interests include corporate governance, family business and corporate finance. Furthermore, I am interested in the interactions between strategy, finance and innovation, and the behavioral aspects of corporate decision-making. My works have been published in leading journals such as Management Science, Journal of Financial Economics, Strategic Management Journal and Organization Science. My research has also been featured in media outlets such as Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Bloomberg.

Registration:

Book now via: sib@wbs.ac.uk