Social capital and human resource management in international joint ventures in Vietnam: a perspective from a transitional economy

This study highlights the importance of social capital in international joint ventures (IJVs), and examines human resource practices as a factor shaping such social capital. Comprehensive measures of social capital are developed and tested, which extend prior work on ‘bonding’ and ‘bridging’ social capital. We also link social capital with its anticipated antecedents and consequences. The study's findings are based on data collected from 164 IJVs located in Vietnam. IJV performance was predicted by training and by the level of trust and cooperation between foreign and local personnel. Training (including acquisition of management skills, technology, and cross-cultural understanding) also was predictive of the measures of social capital. A key practical implication arising from this study is that the return on investment from training of joint venture personnel can stem not only from the transfer of technical and management skills needed for developing competitive advantage, but also from the positive impact on social capital, which further contributes to venture success. The establishment of written objectives and plans for the venture, as well as the IJV's level of control regarding its own HR functions also was found to be related to some components of social capital. The findings of this study reinforce the call to build on the contributions of local personnel in joint ventures, and in Vietnam in particular.     

如何建立风险投资项目的风险预警预控系统

风险投资行为的全过程都充满了风险,风险投资家在选择好项目以后还要采取一系列的措施来规避风险。文章站在风险投资家的角度,针对风险投资项目从注入资金开始,直至资金退出的这一过程,讨论了如何为风险投资项目建立风险预警预控系统,以达到识别风险、控制风险,提高投资收益的目的。     

Screening and valuing venture capital investments: evidence from Hungary,Poland and Slovakia

This paper examines the screening and valuation approaches used by venture capital firms in emerging markets using evidence from surveys of venture capital firms in Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The results show notable differences in the state of development and operation of the venture capital markets both between the three countries and in comparison with the developed UK venture capital market, especially in relation to the degree of equity ownership sought by venture capitalists, the information used in deal screening and valuation methods.     

跨境电子商务与物流融合发展研究

跨境电子商务具有优化资源配置,扩大贸易渠道,改善贸易结构的功能,对外贸和现代服务业发展具有重要意义。鉴于跨境物流瓶颈的存在,跨境电子商务需要与物流融合发展。通过融合,不但可以发挥各自在资源、资金、品牌和运营管理等方面的优势,提升双方在国内和国际市场上的影响力,还可以提升客户服务能力和水平,增加买家的信任和购买力。文章分析了跨境电子商务与物流融合发展的必要性、难点及其路径选择;指出跨境电子商务与物流的融合发展,需要整合境内物流、境外物流、跨境电子商务的各项营运机制,优化利益分配政策。具体可以从业务整合、平台集成、流程优化、业务创新、利益分配几个方面进行。     

WHAT DO ECONOMISTS TELL US ABOUT VENTURE CAPITAL CONTRACTS?

Abstract.  Venture capital markets are characterized by multiple incentive problems and asymmetric information. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists enter into contracts that influence their behaviour and mitigate the agency costs. In particular, they select an appropriate kind and structure of financing and specify the rights as well as the duties of both parties. The typical features of venture capital investments are an intensive screening and evaluation process, active involvement of venture capitalists in their portfolio companies, staging of capital infusions, use of special financing instruments such as convertible debt or convertible preferred stock, syndication among venture capitalists or limited investment horizon.     

企业战略性风险投资中的混合组织控制

企业投资者和风险企业之间的交易关系是一种混合组织。企业战略性风险投资的混合组织控制指的是企业投资者如何对通过风险企业进行控制来实现战略利益,涉及的内容包括:企业投资者的控制权来源,企业投资者如何进行控制权配置,企业投资者所采取的控制渠道,以及依据控制的原理和内部控制的理论进行投资过程的控制。     

The Structure and Management of Alliances: Syndication in the Venture Capital Industry*

abstract Syndicates are a form of inter‐firm alliance in which two or more venture capital firms co‐invest in an investee firm and share a joint pay‐off. Syndication is a significant part of the venture capital market yet little research has been conducted into the process of structuring syndicate deals and the management of syndicates following deal completion. This paper analyses the neglected issues concerning the structuring and management of syndicated venture capital investments from the perspectives of both lead and non‐lead syndicate members using two surveys of venture capital firms and examination of syndication documents. Lead investors typically have larger equity stakes and the syndicated investment agreement is a document that enshrines the rights of participants rather than specifying behaviour. Contractual arrangements typically serve as a back drop to relationships as non‐legal sanctions are important and decisions are typically reached following discussion and consensus, but lead venture capital investors’ residual and specific powers are important in ensuring timely decision‐making. The findings extend previous work on alliances by emphasizing the importance of non‐legal sanctions, especially reputation effects, in mitigating opportunistic behaviour by dominant equity holders. The paper also adds to the limited research on the dynamics of alliances by highlighting the role of repeat syndicates.     

后合资时代中国汽车内资企业战略分析与对策

在"以市场换技术"为特征的合资时代,中国汽车内资企业依托国内庞大的市场,通过中外合资企业的技术扩散和溢出效应,在中国市场上扮演着越来越重要的打造自主品牌的角色,日益成为中国"以市场换技术"的真正主体。中国汽车产业后合资时代显现出与"合资时代"显著不同的新特征,如政府政策转向支持自主创新、内资企业与合资企业从"错位经营"转向正面竞争、企业战略重点从国内市场转向统筹国际国内两个市场、企业创新路径从"以市场换技术"转向融入全球创新体系等。面对中国汽车内资企业内外部环境诸多新的机遇与挑战,本文提出中国汽车内资企业在后合资时代发展的对策和建议。     

‘I Like How You Think’: Similarity as an Interaction Bias in the Investor–Entrepreneur Dyad

Investigating the factors that influence venture capital decision‐making has a long tradition in the management and entrepreneurship literatures. However, few studies have considered the factors that might bias an investment decision in a way that is idiosyncratic to a given investor–entrepreneur dyad. We do so in this study. Specifically, we build from the literature on the ‘similarity effect’ to investigate the extent to which decision‐making process similarity (shared between the investor and the entrepreneur) might bias or otherwise impact the investor's evaluation of a new venture investment opportunity. Our findings suggest venture capitalists evaluate more favourably opportunities represented by entrepreneurs who ‘think’ in ways similar to their own. Moreover, in the presence of decision‐making process similarity, the impacts of other factors that inform the investment decision actually change in counter‐intuitive ways.     

风险资本与风险资本市场

风险资本与风险资本市场存在着相互促进的关系。一个发达活跃的风险资本市场能够极大地刺激风险的扩张。流入高新技术企业的风险资本越多,成功上市的企业就越多,风险资本市场的功能发挥就越强,对社会资金的吸引力就越大,由此推动风险投资事业的发展。本文通过对风险资本与风险资本市场的关系分析,来论证我国二板市场的建立。     

Special Issue

The role of informal venture capital in entrepreneurial process and economic development is increasingly recognized by scholars and policy-makers around the world. Much of the attention that this form of financing has received during the last couple of decades is due to its potential to bridge the regional equity gap. This study is concerned with regional distribution of informal venture capital and factors explaining the allocation of informal investments, and it is based on a large random sample of informal venture capital investors in Sweden. The key findings are that the informal venture capital market in Sweden shows a considerable concentration in metropolitan areas and university cities. Further, investments conducted in these places are allocated in proportion to the new business formation rate and concentration of technology-based firms, while the only factor that provides some explanation for the location of informal investments in the peripheral regions is the proportion of the regional population that is considering starting their own business. Finally, there is a small but significant reallocation of informal venture capital from peripheral regions to metropolitan areas and university cities, which shows that the informal venture capital market in Sweden contributes rather to sustaining the regional equity gap than to bridging it.     

投资者和风险投资家委托代理问题探析

运用委托代理理论对风险投资中投资者与风险投资家之间的委托代理关系进行分析,结合我国风险投资发展现状,并提出促进我国发展风险投资的建议。     

Networks vs. market methods in high-tech venture fundraising: the impact of institutional environment

This study examines how institutional environmental factors, including cultural norm, state regulatory system and venture capital market, influence the high-tech entrepreneur's choice for using network vs. market methods when approaching prospective investors at the early stage of their new venture creation. We collected comparative data through on-site interviews and questionnaire survey with 128 high-tech entrepreneurs in Singapore (a newly industrialised economy) and 250 in Beijing, China (an emerging economy). Our findings suggest that a culture emphasising the value of social obligation, the under-development of the legal/regulatory system and the immaturity of the venture capital market increased the proclivity of entrepreneurs to use network methods. Moreover, entrepreneurs who value networks higher in social obligation than in information transfer are more likely to choose personal ties instead of business ties. This study enhances our understanding of how high-tech entrepreneurs in emerging economies choose between networks and market methods in venture fundraising, and offers suggestions on how public policy makers in these economies can improve the institutional environment of their regions to promote high-tech new venture creation.     

Independent venture capital, corporate venture capital, and the internationalisation intensity of technology-based portfolio firms

Firms that internationalise early in their lives share characteristics with those that receive venture capital. The relationship between receipt of venture capital and the international intensity of 1348 young technology firms is examined, including whether the source of capital, from independent venture capital firms, corporations or private sources, has an impact. The absence of venture capital is shown to be positively associated with increased internationalisation. While previous literature suggests differences in the value added of different sources of venture capital, the results indicate no such differences in their impact on international intensity.     

A UK `Hands-off' Venture Capital Firm and the Handling of Post-investment Investor--Investee Relationships

Commentators on the UK venture capital industry have observed that it has reached a watershed in its development, with the players of the 1980s having to reassess their positions and possibly, in some cases, their continuing viability as independent operators. It has been suggested that increasing numbers of UK venture capitalists are moving towards a more `hands on' approach to post-investment relationships with investees in the hope of improving performance and investment out-turns. Research in the US suggests that the hoped for improvement by this route is not a foregone conclusion. In this paper we examine how a longstanding and successful UK venture capitalist makes a widely publicised `hands-off' approach work -- and how their investees see the approach working. Our research supports the view that, over time, and by a process of feedback learning from post-investment performance monitoring, investees are selected that are compatible with this particular approach. Our findings demonstrate that mutual trust is one of the most vital elements in successful `hands-off' post-investment relationship building -- and that achieving this requires careful and considered nurturing. Moreover, because `hands-on' involvement can be expensive in terms of investor management resources and against the stated investor policy, relationships of the principal--agent type were kept to a minimum as far as was possible consistent with protecting investments.     

Overconfidence and disappointment in venture capital decision making: An empirical examination

We examine the effects of overconfidence in venture capital investing. Overconfidence in financial decision making is a robust, well‐established finding, and its consequences for decisions by equity market investors, startup entrepreneurs, and CEO's of large firms have been comprehensively examined and documented. This paper considers the behavioral consequences of overconfidence by venture capitalists, comparing their anticipated returns to actual average returns. Our primary metric is Bell's disappointment, a measure of the difference between anticipated and actual payoff. We construct both deterministic and stochastic models, based on empirical data. We find that the average venture capitalist will experience substantial disappointment.     

Staffing venture capital firms' international operations

International staffing is relatively unexplored for service firms as much of the literature focuses on manufacturing firms. We draw on the knowledge-based perspective to analyze three key issues related to venture capital firms' international staffing: composition of the international staffing pool; reasons for the deployment of expatriates; and the process through which staff co-ordinate international decision-making, respectively. These research questions are investigated in an exploratory study combining a survey and qualitative interviews. The results suggest that the recruitment of local executives is significantly more important than the deployment of expatriates, and expatriation is significantly more important for transferring knowledge than for other motives suggested in the literature. In VC firms, investment committees play a key role in international decision-making, which allows them to manage challenges that otherwise would require deployment of expatriates. Implications of these results for future IHRM research and for the management of venture capital firms are discussed.     

Informal investors - A categorization,with policy implications

A number of studies concerning informal investors have been carried out over the last two decades. One main conclusion from previous research has been that the informal venture capital market is very heterogeneous, and that classifications for informal investors are needed in order to more accurately depict the informal venture capital market. In this paper we propose that the market could be divided in accordance with the informal investors' investment activity and competence. The study is based on a sample of 425 active informal investors, divided into four different categories: (1) Lotto investors; (2) Traders; (3) Analytical investors; and (4) Business angels. The empirical findings show that there are considerable differences between the four categories of informal investors; differences regarding the information sources used, the level of firm involvement, co-investing, investment horizons, and geographic preferences, to name some examples. As a consequence, each of the various informal investor types responds differently to private and public prospects or motivators. It is suggested, therefore, that the informal venture capital market could be more effectively analysed and depicted by using the proposed classifications and applying differing measures to each informal investor category.     

Why do firms cross-list? International evidence from the US market

Using a modified international asset-pricing model we find strong evidence that publicly quoted firms cross-list when exhibiting strong performance in their domestic market and wish to take advantage of this situation. After cross-listing, this advantage disappears. Our sample consists of daily data for 1165 firms from 47 countries that have cross-listed on the US equity markets over the period 1976–2007. Within the context of this model we provide tests of the validity of the main hypotheses of capital market segmentation and investor protection, which provide explanations for equity cross-listing and investigate whether the nature of the market (regulated or unregulated) and the accompanying legal framework (common or civil law) can account for the impact of cross-listing on returns. Supporting the segmentation hypothesis, we report a decrease in local market risk after cross-listing. However, we find that the magnitude of such a decrease is diminishing over time as international markets become more integrated. On the other hand, we do not find any change in the global market risk after cross-listing, except for firms that cross-listed between 2001 and 2007, where their exposure to international market risk decreases. Furthermore, we find no evidence to support the investor protection hypothesis.     

Social network influence and market instability

Models of social networks depict individuals’ dependency. They offer a systematic way to capture the connectedness and opinion formations in the complex web of interpersonal influences. This paper studies price stability of a capital market, where the dynamics of participants’ opinion formations is formalized using social network models. Stability condition is derived. It is also identified how network structures are important in communications and in determining market stability. It is found that factors of highly-connected networks and balanced weight allocation on information sources can in fact be stabilizing. In applications, this study supports the view that the key to reduce the volatility behaviour of emerging-market securities lies in the development of an efficient investor base. It is suggested that one way to achieve this is by broadening and diversifying both the international and domestic investor categories for the underlying market.