We show that institutional investors are more likely to invest in firms from regions to which they have stronger social ties but find no evidence that these investments earn a differential return. Firms in regions with stronger social ties to locations with many institutional investors have higher valuations and liquidity. These effects are largest for small firms with little analyst coverage, suggesting that the investors’ behavior is explained by their increased awareness of firms in socially proximate locations. Our results highlight that the social structure of regions affects firms’ access to capital and contributes to geographic differences in economic outcomes.

中文翻译：

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社会接近资本：对投资者和公司的影响

我们表明，机构投资者更有可能投资于与他们有更紧密社会联系的地区的公司，但没有发现这些投资获得不同回报的证据。与许多机构投资者所在地区的社会联系更紧密的地区的公司具有更高的估值和流动性。这些影响对于分析师覆盖范围很小的小公司来说最大，这表明投资者的行为可以通过他们对位于社会邻近地区的公司的意识增强来解释。我们的研究结果强调，地区的社会结构会影响企业获得资本的机会，并导致经济成果的地理差异。