Informed capital is a crucial ingredient to a well-functioning market for start-upfinance, especially in times of difficult market conditions. For bank-basedsystems, the question regarding which investors actually supply informed capitalhas not yet been answered. To fill this gap, we conduct a...

We examine the role of spatial proximity for Venture Capital (VC) investments inGermany. The main database is a survey of 85 personal interviews withrepresentatives of different types of financial institutions. The analysis shows thatspatial proximity is far less important for VC investments...

This paper deals with the question of whether public venture capital (VC) isperforming its task properly, taking a look at how public VC companies’ selectionprocess, investment behavior, and consulting services reflect goals that differ fromthose of private VC firms. The results present...

Der aktuell diskutierte Gesetzentwurf für eine Reform der Einlagensicherung in Weißrusslandverfolgt das Hauptziel, mehr Sparmittel der Bevölkerung für das planwirtschaftliche Wirtschaftssystemverfügbar zu machen. Bei einer nicht passgenau auf die Landessituation abgestimmtenAusgestaltung...

We investigate whether the supply of Venture Capital (VC) in Germany is driven by spatial influences. The study is based on information from more than 300 VC investments made in Germany between 2004 and 2005. We find evidence that the geographical distance between a VC company and the portfolio...

Financial globalisation has been associated with divergent current account patterns inemerging market economies. While countries in emerging Asia have been runningsizeable current account surpluses, countries in emerging Europe have been facing largecurrent account deficits. In this paper we...

We provide the first cross-country evidence of the effect of investment by privateequity firms on innovation, focusing on a sample of European countries and usingKortum and Lerner’s (2000) empirical methodology. Using an 18-country panelcovering the period 1991-2004, we study how private...

This paper discusses the so-called commercial approach to microfinance undereconomic and ethical aspects. It first shows how microfinance has developed from a purelywelfare-oriented activity to a commercially relevant line of banking business. Thebackground of this stunning success is the almost...

This paper examines whether recently introduced “village funds”, one of the largestmicrofinance programs ever implemented, improve access to finance. Village funds areanalyzed in a cross-sectional approach in relation to competing financial institutions. We find,first, that they reach the...

Zugang zu Krediten ist für kleine und mittelgroße Unternehmen in Entwicklungsländern von großer Bedeutung, um ihre ökonomischen Möglichkeiten besser auszuschöpfen und so die Einkommen ihrer Besitzer, aber auch ihrer Mitarbeiter zu erhöhen. Deshalb hat die Entwicklungshilfe in der...