This paper considers a region in which some would-be entrepreneurs are in the network of a hub firm and the rest stand alone. Project ideas come in two types: good and not-so-good. Entrepreneurs need to borrow from banks or local financiers to start their projects. Local financiers receive a...

We empirically explore the importance of networks in the match formation of startups and investors. Using a massive network of connections from the entrepreneurial finance setting in California, we estimate a matching model introducing network distance as a key determinant of the value of a...

One in three deals in the early-stage financing market involves an investor and founder from the same alma mater. We show that founders' connections to early-stage investors through shared education networks are more important than school academic quality or shared geography in facilitating...

We study a model of network formation and start-up financing with endogenous entrepreneurial type distribution. A hub firm admits members to its network based on signals about entrepreneurs' types. Network membership is observable, which allows lenders to offer different interest rates to...

We study a model of network formation and start-up financing with endogenous entrepreneurial type distribution. A hub firm admits members to its network based on signals about entrepreneurs’ types. Network membership is observable, which allows lenders to offer different interest rates to...

Entrepreneurs are usually exhorted to attract the best networked investors. We provide further insights into this advice by estimating network effects in the performance of entrepreneurial ventures. We show dimensions that are critical in this estimation, such as the consideration for startups'...

To date, most of the literature on economic networks in West Africa has considered networks in a metaphorical way. The aim of this paper is to go one step further by showing how network analysis may be applied to the study of regional trade in West Africa. After a brief review of the literature,...