Business angels (BAs) - high net worth individuals who provide informal risk capital to firms - are seen as important providers of entrepreneurial finance. Theory and conventional wisdom suggest that the need for face-to-face interaction will ensure angels will have a strong predilection for local investments. We empirically test this assumption using a large representative survey of UK BAs. Our results show local bias is less common than previously thought with only one quarter of total investments made locally. However, we also show pronounced regional disparities, with investment activity dominated by BAs in London and Southern England. In these locations there is a stronger propensity for localised investment patterns mediated by the ‘thick’ nature of the informal risk capital market. Together these trends further reinforce and exacerbate the disparities evident in the UK’s financial system. The findings make an important contribution to the literature and public policy debates on the uneven nature of financial markets for sources of entrepreneurial finance.

商业天使（BA）-为公司提供非正式风险资本的高资产净值人士-被视为创业融资的重要提供者。理论和传统观点表明，需要面对面的互动将确保天使对本地投资有强烈的偏好。我们使用对英国学士学位的大型代表性调查，以实证检验此假设。我们的结果表明，本地偏见比以前认为的要普遍得多，只有本地投资的四分之一。但是，我们也显示出明显的地区差异，投资活动主要由伦敦和英格兰南部的文学学士占主导。在这些地区，由非正式风险资本市场的“厚重”性质所介导的本地化投资模式的倾向更强。这些趋势共同加深并加剧了英国金融体系中明显的差距。这些发现为有关企业融资来源的金融市场不平衡性质的文献和公共政策辩论做出了重要贡献。