The value of privacy and the choice of limited partners by venture capitalists

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Abuzov, Rustam; Gornall, Will; Strebulaev, Ilya A.
• 署名单位: University of Virginia; University of British Columbia; Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2025.104063
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Limited partners; FOIA; venture capital; public pensions

摘要

We study how information disclosure concerns shape the choice of limited partners (LPs) by venture capitalists (VCs). Late-2002 court rulings prevented public LPs from providing confidentiality to investment managers. The best-performing VCs, but not other managers, responded by excluding public LPs from their new funds. Lost access reduced public LP returns by $1.6 billion relative to $14 billion of their VC commitments. Legislation reducing disclosure, contracts limiting information access, and added fund-of-funds intermediaries helped restore access. These changes focused on protecting portfolio company information, highlighting the importance of proprietary information for VC investing and the potential costs of transparency.