This study examines the origins and characteristics of information systems of entrepreneurial firms going through that stage in their life cycle when serious growth ambitions are fuelled by an infusion of external capital. It does so by investigating the consequences of venture capital...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of risk handling arrangements adopted in the relationship between the venture capital investor and his investee. The theoretical framework adopted is principal-agent analysis, which views the investee as a risk averse agent entering into a risk sharing...

This paper aims to establish the basis for a new approach to the performance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The proposed approach emphasises the potential of the SME'S information system (IS) for enhancing performance, through its deployment for superior monitoring and control....

First the empirical background of the UK venture capital industry is developed using a panel of major UK venture capital funds over the period 1988-92. Then a framework for applied principal-agent analysis is developed, focusing on risk management and information. Under risk management it...

Protecting intellectual property by trade secrecy has become an increasingly attractive alternative to more conventional modes of IP protection, like patenting and copyright. This paper provides a statistical, econometric and case study analysis of the protection and valuation of trade secrets...

This paper is inspired by articles in the last decade or so that have argued for more attention to theory, and to empirical analysis, within the well-known, and long-lasting, contingency framework for explaining the organisational form of the firm. Its contribution is to extend contingency...

This paper considers trade secrecy as an appropriation mechanism in the context of the US Economic Espionage Act (EEA) 1996. We examine the relation between trade secret intensity and firm size, using a cross section of 95 court cases. The paper builds on extant work in three respects. First, we...

This work concerns the development of new methods of accounting for risk in high-technology ventures. The paper enquires into attitudes to risk and skills at risk management, in the relationship between high-technology firms and their venture capital backers. The basic prescription behind the...

This paper has two goals. First, to provide an accurate characterisation of the new small firm in Scotland by reference to markets, finance, costs, business strategy, human capital, internal organisation and technical change. Second, to use these same features to discover salient differences...

The paper uses a range of primary-source empirical evidence to address the question: ‘why is it to hard to value intangible assets?’ The setting is venture capital investment in high technology companies. While the investors are risk specialists and financial experts, the entrepreneurs are...