Abstract

Debates on the digital economy neglect its political and financial underpinnings. This article develops the theoretical framework of governing along the investment chain to grasp the backend of the digital economy, that is venture capital and its political underpinnings. Concretely, I focus on the European Investment Fund and how the European Commission uses it to govern along the investment chain into the digital economy. Therefore I conceptualize venture capital from a political economy perspective, situate the European Investment Fund in the European polity, and analyze transformations in the shape of the investment chains, risk-return distribution, and infrastructural power in three distinct periods. I show how in acts of crisis-led institutional innovation, the European Investment Fund has taken a central position in European venture capital investment chains, while skewing the risk-return relationship towards private markets and granting infrastructural power to venture capital funds. This dynamic inhibits the European Investment Fund from taking a progressive and proactive role in European venture capital markets.

摘要

关于数字经济的辩论忽视了其政治和金融基础。本文发展了沿投资链治理的理论框架，以把握数字经济的后端，即风险投资及其政治基础。具体来说，我重点关注欧洲投资基金以及欧盟委员会如何使用它来管理进入数字经济的投资链。因此，我从政治经济学的角度对风险投资进行概念化，将欧洲投资基金置于欧洲政体中，分析三个不同时期投资链条形态、风险收益分配和基础设施力量的转变。我展示了如何在危机引导的制度创新行为中，欧洲投资基金在欧洲风险投资链中占据中心地位，同时将风险回报关系向私人市场倾斜，并赋予风险投资基金基础设施权力。这种动态阻碍了欧洲投资基金在欧洲风险资本市场中发挥积极主动的作用。