Face distance : unpacking the role of ethnic ties in venture capital investment
Name
1051300111-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
6.12 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
96470a6c1c6e5571b8df1dd7e6e5ce08
Author(s)
Wu, Jane Yajie Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advisor(s)
Scott Stern.
Alternative Title
Unpacking the role of ethnic ties in venture capital investment
Date Issued
2018
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Venture capitalists have been shown to be more likely to invest in entrepreneurs of the same ethnicity. At the same time, this result rests on assumptions about how shared ethnicity is defined both theoretically and empirically. Current measurement of ethnic ties is problematic due to mis-classifications, mixed heritage individuals, and variation in accuracy by ethnicity. This paper overcomes these limitations by taking advantage of a novel source of data -- face photographs -- and by applying advanced machine learning techniques to compute the facial similarity between investors and entrepreneurs in a large scale dataset of realized and potential investments. Results suggest that previous work has vastly underestimated the relationship between ethnic ties and investment. Moreover, this relationship is more nuanced than previously documented, varies with the stage of investment and the type of investors involved, and is associated with a lower likelihood of securing follow-on funding or achieving an exit.
Description
Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2018.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 29-34).
Subjects
Sloan School of Management.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
Persistent DSpace Link
