Syndication of venture capital investments into biopharmaceutical industry: A dynamic network perspective

Abstract

The master thesis provides the most recent analysis of subtle relations occurring among venture companies investing into biopharmaceutical industry, visually presents the evolution of a co-investment network and discusses benefits of the network perspective from academic and managerial points of view. The research also promotes visualization of networks for better determination of industry trends and patterns. The research includes the development of the innovative model which can be further exploited in the field and its testing on a large longitudinal dataset of 1009 units. The proposed model captures network dynamics and emphasizes the need for constant renewal of ties by VC firms. Applying the model we find that a network of VC firms is a small world network which is stable over time and demonstrates self-organization.