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Venture Investments in Israel - A Regional Perspective Dafna Schwartz and Raphael Bar-El Ben-Gurion University, School of Management, Israel
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Abstract
Venture Investments in Israel – a Regional Perspective This paper analyzes the geographic distribution of venture investments in start-ups in Israel, using data for the period of 1995-2004. The findings show that their location behavior differs from that of high-tech activities: they show a pattern of "dispersed concentration" (as compared with a pattern of "concentrated concentration" of high-tech activity), with high levels of concentration in focal places, but at a commuting distance from the main metropolis. This is explained by the fact that venture investors also play the role of entrepreneurs and managers. The comparison between different types of venture investors shows that local venture capital funds lead to the heaviest concentration in the metropolis, in comparison with foreign venture investors. This heavy concentration of venture investments implies increasing regional gaps, with a minimal participation of peripheral regions, even those that enjoy some high-tech activity.