Most of the analyses of small firms' decision to seek outside equity financing and the conditions thereof have concerned private firms. Knowledge of the risk and return of entrepreneurial ventures for outside investors is consequently limited. This paper attempts to fill this gap by examining...

Centralization of securities regulation in Canada is a recurring topic which was recently given new impetus. Various participants suggest that the American model is an example of regulatory centralization and could be transposed to Canada. Our study shows the enormous differences which separate...

To ease the financing of growing SMEs, governments found or indirectly fund venture capital companies. These companies act in a context of extreme information asymmetry and potentially exorbitant agency costs. The rigorous governance of these companies is thus pivotal to their performance. We...

Private placements in public equity (PIPEs) are proliferating; in the United States, their growth is estimated at 30% per year. PIPEs are issued as part of prospectus exemptions. Because they can alleviate the financing difficulties of growing high tech companies, they should interest the...

We examine whether risk, timing or mispricing hypotheses can explain the underperformance of private and public equity issuers, in Canada, where both categories share several common characteristics. Adding an investment risk factor to the TFPM reduces, but does not eliminate, the...

We analyse the American Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC) program designed to help small and medium sized businesses find venture capital. SBICs are private entities that may be financed by the Small Business Administration under favourable conditions. The success of this program should...

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...

Despite numerous works about the structure of capital, we still ignore on which bases enterprises make their financing choices (Myers, 1993). The case of France is in this matter of particular interest, because according to various works, French enterprises are alleged to have reduced their...

Several governments have designed tax incentive programs to promote small business finance, yet evidence of their efficiency is very scarce. This article analyzes the QBIC program, introduced in Quebec to help capitalize SME. Individual investors in holding companies that finance one or more...

Some analysts and policy makers consider that the growth of New Technology Based Firms (NTBF) is impeded by an insufficient supply of capital. In Canada, as in other jurisdictions, the public authorities have interceded to fill this equity gap by increasing the supply of funds. However, several...