This survey reviews the growing body of academic work on venture capital. It lays out the major data sources used. It examines the work on venture capital investments in companies, looking at issues of selection, contracting, post-investment services and exits. The survey considers recent work...

As becomes apparent from the standard text books in industrial organization (cf.Tirole, 1988, The Theory of Industrial Organization), the analysis of the e.ects of uncertainty within this field is yet underdeveloped.This paper shows that the new theory of strategic real options can be used to...