If control of their firms allows entrepreneurs to derive private benefits, it also allows other controlling parties. Private benefits are especially relevant for venture capitalists, who typically get considerable control in their portfolio firms, but not for banks, which are passive loan...

This paper investigates the influence of social capital on young firms' financing arrangements. Using a sample of U.S. start-ups, I find that social capital, as captured by secular norms and social networks in the entrepreneur's county, increases access to outside financing and reduces reliance...

Technological innovation, although vital for sustenance of firms against fierce global competition, presents a paradox in micro-economic theory on the managerial decisions related to the financing of such innovation. In particular, budgeting decisions in R&D and innovation at the firm level do...

This paper studies the effect of business partners on the commercialization of invention-based ventures, and it assesses the relative importance of the complementary skills, contacts, and financial capital that these partners may add to the original inventor-entrepreneur. Projects run by...

We examine whether and how investors' reliance on financial information is affected by the rate of sales growth of a start-up venture. We find that investors discern between firms by the extent to which their products are adopted by the market. For firms that failed to increase their sales since...

Although nascent ventures have not yet developed a performance-based reputation, the individual reputations of their founders, based on the performance of their earlier ventures, can function as important signals to investors. Selection system theory distinguishes between different types of...