In the United States, the number of female entrepreneurs who receive venture capital funding is significantly lower than the number of male entrepreneurs who receive venture capital funding. This thesis explores some of the economic, sociological, and psychological principles behind why this gender disparity in venture capital might exist. This thesis then surveys the current efforts in place to lessen the disparity, and lastly prescribes future ways in which female entrepreneurs can gain more access to capital for their businesses.

This study used protocol analysis to identify key variables in the venture capital investment decision-making process. The study used a fictional business plan which was based on six actual business plans. This fictional business plan was presented to ten venture capitalists who were asked to review it to decide whether to interview the investee. The protocols obtained from these subjects were analyzed to determine patterns within the subjects' review. The sections of the business plan which were commonly reviewed first were the deal structure, the executive summary, and the management section. The management section was used by the greatest number of subjects. The market section was used the greatest number of times. The data were also organized by type of operators used in each subject's protocols. Information Search/Retrieval operators were most common, followed by Task Structuring/Set Goal operators. When classified into the four major categories of Task Structuring/Set Goal, Information Acquisition, Analytical/ Inferential, and Choice operators, Analytical/Inferential operators were used most frequently. Choice operators were least used. The phrases were analyzed by the relevant section in the business plan. The market received the greatest number of references, followed by references to the product and to management. However, when references to the income statement and balance sheet were combined as phrases relevant to the financial statements, the financial statements were referred to more frequently than the product or the people. The subjects appeared to use an unidentified choice program within which certain models could be identified as subroutines. The subjects used an elimination-by-aspects model to screen the business plan. If the business plan met the criteria within the elimination-by-aspects model of the subject, the subject used an additive/nonlinear model for the remainder of the review. The results of this study indicate that financial statements provide information important in the venture capital investment decision-making process. This finding is contrary to the advice usually given to potential venture capital investees.

Le point de départ de cette thèse a été constitué par la création, en France, des Pôles de Compétitivité pour fonder une nouvelle économie nationale basée sur la science. Ces structures s’inscrivent dans la perspective théorique qui s’est construite sur l’importance de l’action partenariale, dans l’émergence, la diffusion et le développement de l’innovation technologique des petites entreprises. Toute l’organisation actuelle des pôles repose en effet sur un courant théorique qui stipule que le principe fondateur de l’innovation au sein des petites entreprises est la proximité. Ce courant a connu un considérable essor, notamment avec les écrits de M. Porter sur la notion du « Cluster ». Cependant, l’innovation technologique est un défi d'envergure pour les petites entreprises innovantes, car celles-ci sont confrontées à des situations de risques qui freinent leur développement. Au même temps, pour faire face à ces risques, bon nombre de chercheurs ont mis en évidence le lien étroit entre la nature du financement et le développement de l’innovation technologique des petites entreprises ainsi que l’ensemble d’un cluster. C’est notamment le cas dans la co-location de la science, l’industrie, et la finance par capital-risque au sein de la Silicon Valley. Au sein de ce cluster, il existe un lien intime entre le financement par capital-risque et son évolution économique. Ainsi, comme pour les pôles de compétitivité (Dupuy et Granier, 2010), le financement par capital-risque est alors présenté comme l’ultime alternative pour le financement et le développement de l’innovation entrepreneuriale (Gompers et al., (2005), Klagge et Martin (2005), Ferrary (2006, 2007, 2009)). Ces sociétés sont alors considérées comme les « encastreurs » ; le relais entre les ressources locales d’un cluster et les besoins des petites entreprises. Non seulement elles financent le projet entrepreneurial, mais elles soutiennent également l’innovation des petites entreprises à travers des actions concertées avec les acteurs locaux d’un cluster, comme les centres de recherche, de formation, et les grandes entreprises. Notre recherche vise, par conséquent, répondre à la problématique suivante: « Comment les sociétés de capital-risque assurent-elles le management des entreprises innovantes dans le cadre d’un pôle de compétitivité? ». Il faut dire que la littérature est riche en ce qui concerne le lien entre le financement de l’innovation par capital-risque et le développement des réseaux d’innovation (Gompers et al., 2005 ; Ferrary, 2006, 2007), néanmoins, cette question demeure sans explication complète et définitive dans le cas des pôles de compétitivité. Ainsi, afin d’apporter de nouveaux éléments qui expliquent ce paradoxe, nous allons essayer, à travers cette thèse, d’élaborer un cadre explicatif du comportement des sociétés du capital-risque au sein d’un pôle de compétitivité. / The starting point of this thesis was formed by the creation in France of the “Pôle de Competitive” as Clusters to found a new economy based on science. These structures are part of the theoretical perspective that has been built on the importance of partnership action, in the emergence, dissemination and development of technological innovation of small businesses. All the current organization of the poles is indeed based on a theoretical current which states that the founding principle of innovation in small firms is proximity. This trend has seen a considerable growth, particularly with the writings of Michael Porter about the notion of "Cluster". However, technological innovation is a major challenge for small innovative companies, as they face situations of risk which hamper their development. At the same time, to address these risks, many researchers have highlighted the close link between the nature of the financing and development of technological innovation of small businesses as well as an entire cluster. This is the case in the co-location of science, industry, finance and venture capital in Silicon Valley. Within this cluster, there is a close link between funding by venture capital and its economic development. Thus, as for Pôles de Compétitivité (Dupuy and Granier, 2010), the venture capital financing is then presented as the ultimate alternative for the financing and development of entrepreneurial innovation (Gompers et al., (2005) , Klagges and Martin (2005), Ferrary (2006, 2007, 2009)). These companies are then considered as the link between local resources in a cluster and the needs of small businesses. They not only fund the entrepreneurial project, but they also support small business innovation through joint actions with local actors in a cluster, such as research, training, and large enterprises. Our research is, therefore, answer the following question: "How do venture capital companies they provide the management of innovative companies as part of a pôle de compétitivité? ". It must be said that literature is rich regarding the link between the financing of innovation through venture capital and development of innovation networks (Gompers et al. 2005; Ferrary, 2006, 2007), however, this remains unexplained in the case of these clusters. Thus, in order to bring new elements that explain this paradox, we will try, through this thesis, to develop a framework explaining the behavior of venture capital firms in a pôle de compétitivité.

Diploma thesis aims to describe the current state of the Private Equity financing in the Czech Republic. This issue is viewed from two angles. The first part is devoted to macro-economic assessment of the current state of Private Equity in the Czech Republic. It aims to describe the current situation, compare it to economies with a developed private equity market and to draw recommendations that will lead to further development of private equity in our country. The focus of the second part is to characterize the Private Equity market from a microeconomic perspective. It aims to describe the functioning of the Private Equity market at the level of individual entities, the business model and analyze and compare the investment strategies of General Partners operating in the Czech Republic.

The thesis deals with venture capital and private equity from investor's point of view first. There are presented different types of investors, management companies and funds and the relation among these subjects. Venture capital and private equity is an alternative to finance business activities from the entrepreneurial perspective and this paper provides profile of an appropriate company and explains the relation between the investment fund and the company. The analytical part focuses on investment activity in the Czech Republic and the findings about level and structure are analysed with regard to selected factors from business and investment environment.

A presente dissertação de mestrado tem como finalidade o estudo dos instrumentos jurídicos previstos no Direito Brasileiro utilizados nas operações de venture capital, tendo em vista a sua capacidade de lidar com os problemas de agência na cadeia de investimento das referidas operações. O estudo fundamenta-se na importância desse mercado no financiamento de inovações, que, por sua vez, possuem importância vital para o desenvolvimento dos países. Particularmente, tais operações atuam para suprir a falta de financiamentos disponíveis para empresas recém-constituídas, de pequeno e médio porte, com alto potencial de introduzir inovações no mercado. A literatura estrangeira revela-nos que problemas de agência são consideravelmente altos na cadeia de investimento de venture capital, tendo em vista a alta assimetria informacional entre agentes e principais nas relações entre investidores e venture capitalists, e venture capitalists e empreendedores. A mesma literatura anota que os instrumentos jurídicos desempenham papel fundamental no alinhamento dos interesses das partes nas relações retromencionadas, para que as operações sejam viabilizadas. Diversas avenças e mecanismos são previstos em tais instrumentos, com este propósito, tendo em conta as condições deste mercado em particular. No Brasil, para que o mercado de venture capital se desenvolva, os instrumentos jurídicos devem lidar com tais problemas, e é nessa análise que concentramos nossos estudos. / This research has as it purposes the study of legal instruments provided for in the Brazilian Law and used in venture capital transactions, taking into account their capacity of dealing with agency problems inherent to the investment chain of referenced transactions. The study has its grounds on the importance of such market to the financing of innovations, which, in its turn, have vital importance to the development of nations. Particularly, said transactions work to correct the lack of available financing to start up small and medium companies with high potential to introduce innovations into the market. The foreign literature shows that agency problems are considered high in the venture capital investment chain, taking into account the high information asymmetry between principals and agents to the relationships between investors and venture capitalists, and venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. The same literature affirms that the legal instruments perform fundamental role in the alignment of parties interests in the aforementioned relationships, so that the transactions are made feasible. A variety of covenants and mechanisms are set forth in such instruments with this purpose, considering the conditions of such particular market. In Brazil, in order to develop the venture capital market, the legal instruments have to deal with such problems, and that is the focus of our analysis.

This study has been prompted by the recent introduction of the JSE Alternative Exchange in South Africa, an alternative listing platform for smaller companies compared to the more established JSE Main Board Exchange. This new era has led to information asymmetry among current and prospective investors regarding the risk-return profile of the companies listed on the relatively new JSE Alternative Exchange and how this profile relates to the profile of firms listed on the long established JSE Main Board Exchange. In an attempt to fill the above information gap, this study sheds light on the short, medium and long-term performances of initial public offerings of companies listed on the JSE Alternative Exchange vis-a-vis that of JSE Main Board Exchange. This information is relevant for investment and financing decision making, principally for investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. The findings of this research appear to be contrary to expectations and to corporate finance theory. The results indicate that on average, initial public offerings by larger JSE Main Board companies outperform the smaller JSE Alternative Exchange companies on a nominal and risk-adjusted bases in the short-medium and long-term. It must be noted however that the differences in performance are not statistically significant. On the other hand, in line with documented evidence in the literature, it was found that the risk of returns on the smaller capitalisation JSE Alternative Exchange companies was indeed higher than that of the JSE Main Board companies. A similarity identified between the average performances of the two listing platforms is that, the returns for companies decreased overtime between the short and long-term. This may be partly due to the impact of the 2007 economic recession.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management specialising in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation. Johannesburg, 2016 / With a struggling economy characterised by high levels of poverty and unemployment, it makes sense that Swaziland should prioritise the growth of new ventures in a bid to foster economic growth through ensuring accelerated SME growth. However, the country’s SME policy notes significant problems which hinder venture growth, particularly pertaining to SMEs access to finance, markets, entrepreneurship education and training, as well as business support programmes, business regulation and contract enforcement. This study seeks to evaluate the impact these factors have on the growth of SMEs in a bid to ascertain the extent of this impact, and further to make recommendations on how the rhetoric and practice of entrepreneurship can be shaped to foster high growth entrepreneurship within this milieu. This is done based on an analysis of data collected through a quantitative survey conducted amongst SMEs incubated within the country’s only public incubator, SEDCO. The findings are drawn from a correlation and multiple regression analysis, with the latter aiming to ascertain causality between these conditions and venture growth. Through this, the study found that the variables of access to finance, markets, education and training, business support programmes, business regulation and contract enforcement are significant predictors of venture growth, thus more needs to be done to ensure that inefficiencies within these are addressed to bolster levels of SME growth. The study contributes theoretically to the entrepreneurial landscape in that it comes at a point where there is no current research assessing the enablers and inhibitors of venture growth within Swaziland. It is of further practical significance in that it broaches the subject of high growth entrepreneurship in an environment laden with necessity, survivalist entrepreneurs whilst it is the former that is perceived to have a significant impact on the economy. / MT2016

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (specialising in Taxation) Johannesburg, 2015 / Small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) play a key role in the development of the economy and are a significant contributor to employment. In South Africa (SA), SMMEs employ more than 68.2% of the work force in the private sector. To achieve the objective of economic growth, job creation as well as income redistribution, the government is actively promoting SMMEs. The SMMEs increase the average employment rate in SA by pulling into production unemployed low skilled labour, whose skills level is not sufficient to qualify for employment in larger firms. How do the South African tax compliance burden and tax incentives for SMMEs measure up in comparison to the tax compliance burden and tax incentives for SMMEs in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA)? The research reviews the tax compliance burden and tax incentives of SMMEs in SA in comparison to the tax compliance burden and tax incentives of the UK and the USA. The research was conducted through an extensive review of the literature. The literature review has indicated that tax compliance is one of the main burdens acting as a deterrent to the formalization of SMMEs for tax purposes. The review of the literature also indicated that National Treasury is trying very hard to ease the burden of tax compliance on SMMEs. Key words: Income tax, SMMEs, tax compliance costs, tax incentives, turnover tax, value-added tax, venture capital.

Thesis advisor: Thomas J. Chemmanur / My dissertation is comprised of three chapters. In the first chapter, I analyze the effect of top management changes on subsequent corporate innovation in venture capital-backed private firms using a hand-collected dataset. I find that top management changes are associated with significantly more and higher quality corporate innovation (as measured by their patenting activity). I show that top management changes are likely to be venture-driven and that the effect of top management changes on corporate innovation is stronger for firms where venture capitalists have greater power. An instrumental variable analysis using an exogenous shock to the supply of outside managers available for hire implies a causal effect of top management changes on corporate innovation. I establish that one mechanism through which top management changes enhance corporate innovation is through new management teams hiring more inventors for a given investment size. I also show that both top management changes and corporate innovation have a positive impact on firms' successful exits. In the second chapter, co-authored with Thomas Chemmanur and Karthik Krishnan, we hypothesize that VC-backing garners greater “investor attention” (Merton (1987)) for IPOs, allowing IPO underwriters to perform two information-related roles more efficiently during the book-building and road-show process: information dissemination, where the lead underwriter disseminates noisy information about various aspects of the IPO firm to institutional investors; and information extraction, where the lead underwriter extracts information useful in pricing the IPO firm equity from institutional investors. Using pre-IPO media coverage as a proxy, we show empirically that VC-backed firm IPOs indeed obtain greater investor attention, causally yielding them more favorable IPO characteristics such as higher IPO and secondary market valuations. In the third chapter, co-authored with Thomas Chemmanur, Lei Kong, and Karthik Krishnan, using panel data on top management characteristics and a management quality factor constructed using common factor analysis on individual management quality proxies, we analyze the relation between the human capital or “quality” of firm management and its innovation inputs and outputs. We control for the endogenous matching between firm and management quality using a plausibly exogenous shock to the supply of new managers as an instrument, thereby finding a causal relationship between management quality and innovation activities. We show that higher management quality firms achieve greater innovation output by hiring more and higher quality inventors. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.