Doctoral Dissertation Research: Cultural Analysis of Risk Management in the Korean Venture Capital Industry

一名文化人类学学生的论文研究项目考察了韩国最近建立和促进风险投资行业增长的尝试是如何受到韩国重要文化机构的影响的。该项目将研究风险资本行业的风险管理，风险资本行业的定义是，受社会关系高于财务的韩国传统价值观影响，为具有高风险和高回报潜力的技术密集型企业提供资金的公司；人际关系：人际关系的质量；以及情绪反应的质量。在韩国建立风险投资行业之前，企业家通常完全依靠自己的储蓄，通常来自非正式信贷协会，家人和朋友的礼物和贷款，有时还来自贷款机构的信贷，为其商业项目提供资金。许多用来了解和减少资本损失风险的策略都涉及培养特定文化的社会纽带。使用各种定性方法，本项目将描述和评估这些文化上知情的社会实践对四家公司的风险投资的影响程度：一家外国风险投资公司；境内风险投资公司；一家正在寻求融资的初创通讯公司；还有更传统的轮转信贷协会。有关交易的具体“韩国”性质与外国参与关系程度的假设将得到检验。该项目创造的新知识将有助于定位这一商业领域的文化和资本主义框架之间的交集。通过了解韩国对风险投资的影响，我们将进一步了解美国文化对类似业务的影响。此外，这项研究提高了我们对世界上这一重要地区的认识，并有助于培养年轻的社会科学家。

0108938Marcus / Chung This dissertation research project by a cultural anthropology student examines how recent attempts in South Korea to establish and promote the growth of venture capital industry have been shaped by salient Korean cultural institutions. The project will study risk management in the venture capital industry, defined as firms that fund technology-intensive enterprises characterized by high risk with the potential for high return, as affected by traditional Korean values of the primacy of social relations over finance; the quality of human relations; and the quality of emotional reactions. Prior to the establishment of a venture capital industry in South Korea, entrepreneurs usually relied solely on their own savings, often from informal credit associations, gifts and loans from family and friends, and sometimes credit from lending institutions, to finance their business projects. Many of the strategies used to understand and minimize the risk of capital loss involved the cultivation of culturally specific social bonds. Using a variety of qualitative methods, this project will describe and assess the degree to which these culturally informed social practices inform venture capital investment in four firms: a foreign venture capital company; a domestic venture capital company; a start-up communication company seeking funding; and a more traditional rotating credit association. Hypotheses relating the specifically "Korean" nature of transactions to the level of foreign involvement in the relationship will be tested. The new knowledge created by this project will help locate the intersection between cultural and capitalistic frameworks in this domain of business. By understanding Korean influences on venture capital investment, we will further our understanding of the influence of US culture on similar business. In addition, the research advances our knowledge of this important region of the world, and contributes to the training of a young social scientist.