How does governmental versus private venture capital backing affect a firm’s efficiency? Evidence from Belgium

We investigate the implications of venture capital (vc) investor type (government or private) on the operating efficiency of a sample of 515 belgian portfolio firms up to 3 years after the investment. We find that the government vc-backed firms display significant reductions in productivity. No significant differences in efficiency are found in firms backed by private vc compared with their non-vc-backed peers. Finally, significant reductions in efficiency exist in targets of government vc compared to their non-vc-backed peers