Breaking barriers or maintaining status quo? Female representation in decision-making group of venture capital firms and the funding of woman-led businesses

Lei Xu, Amy Y. Ou, Haemin Dennis Park, Han Jiang

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We examine whether and when female representation in decision-making groups of venture capital firms affects the firms' decision to fund woman-led businesses. By developing an intra- and inter-group categorization framework for group decision-making, we argue that, in the male-dominated venture capital industry, decision-making groups with higher female representation are less likely to fund woman-led businesses. However, this negative effect is mitigated when the decision-making group has more politically neutral members or when members have more shared prior employment affiliations. Using a longitudinal panel dataset of funding decisions by 151 U.S.-based venture capital firms, the empirical analyses support our theoretical predictions. We also enriched and complemented our empirical findings with qualitative evidence.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106368
JournalJournal of Business Venturing
Volume39
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2024

Keywords

  • Decision-making group
  • Female representation
  • Funding of woman-led businesses
  • Gender equality
  • Qualitative analysis
  • Social categorization
  • Venture capital

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Management of Technology and Innovation

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