Why new venture investors overvalue some investment proposals and undervalue others, an experimental evidence

New venture investment decisions reflect misvaluations as many deserving proposals are rejected, while most invested proposals fail to provide the required financial returns. This suggests that investors overvalue and undervalue investment proposals. We have used the arguments of dual process theory and salience theory to explain the cause of misvaluations. An experimental setup is used where the treated group is given time constraints to make the investment. Results show that investors under time constraints overvalue investment proposals, while reference-based comparison of salient information signals results in undervaluation. Results further show a significant impact of time constraints on the reference for comparison of proposals. Investors under time constraints consider only the last proposal as a reference to compare salient information signals, in contrast, they consider information from multiple previous proposals in the absence of time constraints. This study provides the specific source of misvaluations as per the context of overvaluation and undervaluation of new venture investment proposals.