A Complementary Survey for the Project "Investor Characteristics and Startups Decision"

Last registered on June 15, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
A Complementary Survey for the Project "Investor Characteristics and Startups Decision"
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011557
Initial registration date
June 11, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 15, 2023, 4:47 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Ye Zhang
Affiliation
Columbia University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-06-28
End date
2023-08-21
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
ESG, Entrepreneurial Finance, Venture Capital
JEL code(s)
G24, L26, C39, M14, C78
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The survey complements the experimental evidence documented in the paper "Does ESG Investing Help Venture Capital Funds Attract Startups? Experimental Evidence". It aims to answer the following questions:
a. Why do startup founders perceive venture capital funds that aim for positive environmental impact (i.e., "Environmental VC Funds") are less likely to help them generate profits?
Hypothesis 1: Environmental Mandates are very costly.
Hypothesis 2: Investors working in environmental VC funds are less capable of helping startups to generate profits due to expertise or network.
b. Why do startup founders have different evaluations of "Environmental VC Funds" and "Social VC Funds" ("Social VC Funds" refer to VC funds that aim for positive social impact)
Hypothesis 1: Social Mandates are less costly compared to environmental mandates.
Hypothesis 2: Investors working in social VC funds are more capable of helping startups generate profits than investors working in environmental VC funds.
c. Are there heterogeneous effects based on startup founders' demographic information?
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Zhang, Ye. 2023. "A Complementary Survey for the Project "Investor Characteristics and Startups Decision"." AEA RCT Registry. June 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11557-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This is not an experiment that provides randomized treatments. Instead, this is a survey study that provides descriptive evidence that complements a previous experimental project.
Intervention Start Date
2023-07-10
Intervention End Date
2023-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Please see the Analysis Plan.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Please see the Analysis Plan.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Please see the Analysis Plan.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
This is not an experiment that provides randomized treatments. However, the order of answers to each multiple-choice question and the order of each displayed block are randomized to mitigate any "position effect".
Randomization Unit
This is not an experiment that provides randomized treatments. Instead, this is a survey study that provides descriptive evidence that complements a previous experimental project.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
We do not need clusters in this survey study.
Sample size: planned number of observations
200-300 startup founders
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
200-300 startup founders
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
200-300 startup founders
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
SSE Ethical review
IRB Approval Date
2022-05-12
IRB Approval Number
DR 2022-4
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials