Vlerick Leuven Gent Working Paper Series 2007/16 AN ASSESSMENT OF GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF BUSINESS ANGEL NETWORKS: A REGIONAL STUDY VERONIEK COLLEWAERT SOPHIE MANIGART
[email protected] RUDY AERNOUDT D/2007/6482/21 AN ASSESSMENT OF GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF BUSINESS ANGEL NETWORKS: A REGIONAL STUDY VERONIEK COLLEWAERT Ghent University SOPHIE MANIGART Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School RUDY AERNOUDT Hogeschool Gent We would like to thank the participants of the 2006 Babson Kaufmann Entrepreneurship Research Conference (Bloomington, IN) and the 2006 RENT Conference (Brussels) for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Contact: Sophie Manigart Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Tel: +32 09 210 97 87 Fax: +32 09 210 97 00 Email:
[email protected] 2 ABSTRACT In this paper we evaluate whether government intervention through the public funding of business angel networks is warranted. Based on a regional study of four BANs, we find that these subsidies reach their goals in terms of contribution to economic development and reducing financing and information problems entrepreneurial companies face. However, they are partly based on the wrong assumptions as these companies are not (yet) value creating. Therefore, we advise caution in using the market failure argument as grounds for government intervention in the informal risk capital market. Keywords: risk capital; business angels; policy; economic development; market failure JEL: G24, H71, M13, R58 3 INTRODUCTION Over the past decade, governments from all over the world have launched initiatives to stimulate risk capital markets (LERNER, 1999; EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 2003b), ranging from public venture capital (VC) and seed funds to co-funding of private VC funds, supporting business angel networks (BANs), incubation services and developing guarantee schemes (OECD, 1997; EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 2006).