Stock markets perform a creation function if the inflow of financial capital in the birth of new privately-held firms is stimulated by the promise of stock market liquidity at a later point in time. Junior stock market segments, characterized by lighter listing procedures and costs, may be...

During the latter part of the 1990s the introduction of the euro, the dramatic increase in the supply of venture capital in most EU countries, and the creation of several new equity markets targeted at innovative firms have dramatically transformed the financing prospects of European...