Peer-to-business lending refers to online platforms facilitating loans from individuals to smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We conjecture that easy-to-understand risk ratings conveyed by the platform play a pronounced role in influencing the borrowing success of SMEs and that more...

Private independent limited partnership venture capital funds receive capital from institutional investors, without tax incentives. Limited partnership investment activities are governed by restrictive covenants that are determined by negotiated contract between the fund managers (general...

This paper examines the effect of fund size on investee firm valuations in the venture capital market. We show a convex (U-shape) relationship between fund size and firm valuations. We further document firm valuations are positively correlated to measures of limited attention. In addition, we...

In this paper we examine for the first time the role of agents in private-market entrepreneurial financings. After controlling for the endogenous issuer-agent matching and a whole host of other potential determinants, the empirical findings in this paper indicate that agents attract more...

We analyze the economic consequences of disclosure and regulation within a context of significant information asymmetry and lenient regulation. In Canada, firms can enter the stock market at a pre-revenue stage by fulfilling each of the requirements of an initial public offerings or using...

This paper examines the valuation of venture capital (VC)-backed IPOs in Canada and the US over the 1986-2007 period. The data indicate that differences in listing standards between Canada and the US account for fact that IPOs are valued substantially lower in Canada. We consider alternative...

We examine the dynamics of the positive sorting in the venture capital industry. Our findings indicate that switching lead VCs is not uncommon during the course of entrepreneurial firms' development. Companies with upwardly revised perceived quality are more likely to switch to more reputable...

We analyze the impact of expected (targeted) capital structure decisions on information asymmetries. We measure information asymmetry from equity liquidity through the use of an information asymmetry index that is based on six measures that capture trading activity, trading costs, and the price...

Statistics reporting litigated cases of fraud on an exchange-by-exchange basis are not readily available to investors. This paper introduces data from three countries with multiple exchanges operating under different listing standards – Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States – to...

A recent article in the Journal of Public Economics has asserted, among other things, that government venture capital funds in Europe have crowded out private venture capital. In this research note, I explain that the findings in that paper are based on empirical measures that are completely...