This paper presents a first-ever empirical examination of the effectiveness of signals that entrepreneurs use to induce (small) investors to commit financial resources in an equity crowdfunding context. We examine the impact of venture quality (human capital, social (alliance) capital, and...

We formulate theory on the effect of board of director gender diversity on the broad spectrum of securities fraud and generate three main insights. First, based on ethicality, risk aversion, and diversity, we hypothesize that gender diversity on boards can operate as a significant moderator for...

We examine an international sample of 68,044 completed, or envisaged but abandoned, M&A transactions involving unlisted targets to determine the effect of rumors on deal-closing propensity and transaction value. Our focus on non-listed targets leaves only two reasons for the emergence of M&A...

We examine the spread of UCITS funds around the world, and consider whether such mutual funds that adopt higher standards of voluntary investor protection expand their operations to other countries with higher or lower investor protection regimes. The data indicate equity funds spread to...

Two recent papers examine the impact of corporate bankruptcy laws on new business start ups in 29 countries over 1990-2008 (Peng et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2010). In this commentary, I briefly point out two significant issues which future researchers might want to consider along this line of...

We analyze governance with a new dataset on investments of venture capitalists in 3848 portfolio firms in 39 countries from North and South America, Europe and Asia spanning 1971-2003. We provide evidence that cross-country differences in legality, including legal origin and accounting...

In 2005, the Government of Ontario, Canada, announced the phase out of the Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Corporation (LSVCC) tax credit, which will be become effective in 2011. Some media attention has suggested this might lead to difficulty for Ontario entrepreneurs and emerging firms in...

In this paper we examine for the first time the role of agents in private-market entrepreneurial financings. After controlling for the endogenous issuer-agent matching and a whole host of other potential determinants, the empirical findings in this paper indicate that agents attract more...

In this review I could have focused on all of the excellent things in this work. But that would take too long, and the job of a reviewer is not to excessively praise but instead highlight areas of concern with the aim of full and correct dissemination of knowledge on a topic.I show conclusions...