Abstract

Extant research on the international venture capital (VC) firms largely focuses on cross-country comparison; only a limited number of studies have examined the internationalization of VC firms and their strategies in host countries. This study approaches the research topic mainly from an institutional perspective, and intends to understand the performance of foreign VC firms in emerging economies, a topic that has rarely been examined in previous research. Using a sample of U.S. VC firms investing in China, this study finds that U.S. VC firms with more investment experience at home have weaker investment performance in China. The empirical results also show that U.S. VC firms investing in ventures with larger top management team, staging their investments, and syndicating with other U.S. VC firms are likely to achieve better performance in China. Contrary to what was hypothesized, syndicating with Chinese VC firms decreases U.S. VC firms’ investment performance in China.

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