A review of angel investing research: analysis of data and returns in the US and abroad

Michael B. McDonald and Ramon Degennaro

Studies in Economics and Finance, 2016, vol. 33, issue 4, 716-734

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on angel investors. Research on angel investors is sparse because data are sparse. Most comprehensive studies of angel investors have focused on the USA and UK. In these studies, definitions of angel investors and estimates of returns on angel investments vary dramatically. What can one make of this wide range of reported returns? Design/methodology/approach - The authors examine the literature and find that the calculations of reported results are vague. Findings - Most researchers do not explicitly report if their estimates are equal-weighted or value-weighted, nor do they say whether the results are weighted by the duration of the investment. The authors show that the unit of analysis – investment, project or angel – affects interpretations. Practical implications - Limitations on the comparability between various studies of angel investing returns leave the current literature incomplete. They also offer opportunities for future study in the area. Originality/value - The authors are the first to examine the angel investing literature in a comprehensive fashion, comparing between various returns found across all major studies of the subject done to date.

Keywords: Angel investing; Entrepreneurial finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:sefpps:v:33:y:2016:i:4:p:716-734

DOI: 10.1108/SEF-11-2014-0210

Access Statistics for this article

Studies in Economics and Finance is currently edited by Prof Niklas Wagner

More articles in Studies in Economics and Finance from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().