The Wall Street Journal’s Venture Capital Dispatch takes a look at a study by Harvard and the Federal Reserve that says startups often do better outside the usual VC hubs of Boston, New York and Silicon Valley. But it’s not just the sweet, sweet freedom from micromanagement:

That flies in the face of the conventional wisdom, which is that start-ups benefit from having VCs nearby to monitor them, coach the management team and provide key introductions to other entrepreneurs or investors. So does that mean start-ups are better off when VCs leave them alone – in effect serving as absentee VCs that just provide the cash and don’t meddle?

Not exactly. The study speculates that the reason for the better performance of companies that are off the beaten path may be more due to what the researchers call a “higher hurdle rate,” or the requirement by VCs of a higher expected rate of return. In other words, when investing outside of their local area, VCs will tend to use a higher threshold and invest in companies that they believe have a greater-than-usual chance of going public, to make up for the travel costs and inconvenience of monitoring a far-flung company.