In Which Regions Do Governmental, Independent, and Corporate Venture Capital Firms Invest? An Empirical Investigation across 402 German Regions

Abstract

We analyze the distribution of venture capital (VC) investments across German regions and explore the geographical determinants of these investments. So far, little is known about the regional determinants of governmental (GVC), independent (IVC), and corporate (CVC) VC firms and about whether these types of VC firms invest in different regions. Combining a dataset of 402 German districts, our regressions show that regions with a higher supply of human capital and knowledge creators attract a significantly higher number of GVC investments. Moreover, we find a significant difference in economically weaker regions but do not find a metropolitan bias. Hence, GVC firms do not invest more frequently in rural regions per se and do not prevent regional disparities more often than other types of VC firms. The implications of these findings for high-tech firms and regional policy are discussed.