Venture capitalists, investment appraisal and accounting information: a comparative study of the USA, UK, France, Belgium and Holland

The differences between the information used for the pre‐investment valuation and the valuation methods used by venture capital investors in five countries (USA, UK, France, Belgium and Holland) are empirically studied. The analysis is based on postal questionnaire surveys of representative samples of senior venture capitalists in each country. Differences are found, which may be attributed to the dominant corporate governance mechanism or the level of development of the venture capital market. Between‐country differences persist even after taking into account between‐country differences in the relative importance of investment stages and venture capital types. Apparently similar systems and venture capital markets place varying emphases on different valuation methods, with theoretically 'correct' methods not always being preferred in practice. The findings of the study highlight the need for venture capital firms entering non‐domestic markets to invest considerable effort in understanding the operation of these markets if they are to exploit fully their perceived competitive advantages and minimize the likelihood of repeating the problems experienced by venture capital entrants into foreign markets in the late 1980s.     

How do networks and learning drive M&As? An institutional comparison between China and the United States

What drives mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in different institutional environments? This article builds on the resource dependence perspective and argues that networks, learning, and institutions represent three building blocks that can enhance our understanding of the drivers behind M&As. Specifically, we consider firms as learning actors embedded in network relations and influenced by institutional development, and compare and contrast firms' acquisition activities across the United States and China. Our findings show that there are indeed important learning and network factors that lead to M&As. More interestingly, the impact of such learning and network factors varies sharply across countries with different market‐based institutions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Corporate entrepreneurs and privatized firms in russia, ukraine, and belarus

This paper provides a preliminary examination of the development of corporate entrepreneurship in privatized firms in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, three countries with a common background as part of the Soviet Union, but with different incentives and constraints on entrepreneurship since the beginning of transition. Using large-scale surveys of newly privatized companies, the paper shows that there are differences in the nature and extent of entrepreneurship in established businesses in the three countries. The paper utilizes representative samples of general directors in 105 privatized Russian enterprises, 100 privatized Ukranian enterprises, and 68 privatized enterprises in Belarus.Evidence is presented that suggests that Russian privatized firms have lower insider stakes, greater outside ownership, less employee voice, and greater managerial power within the firm than is the case in Belarus and Ukraine. The active monitoring of managers by outsiders may be an important aspect of the transformation of Russian firms to efficient, commercially viable entities. In Ukraine and Belarus a lack of outside involvement in corporate governance may lead to managerial opportunism and low incentives to attract outside strategic investors, including foreign partners. Russia appears to be building a stronger platform for the future development and effectiveness of entrepreneurship than is the case in Ukraine and Belarus. The findings provide evidence of the importance of direct involvement and the development of relationships to counteract the shortcomings of the legal infrastructure and financial reporting mechanisms.In general, the findings of the study for Russia show that in the current hostile and rapidly changing environment, entrepreneurial priorities and actions so far have primarily focused on controlling cash flow, seeking new markets, and redefining businesses through retrenchment and restructuring. Although it is, as yet, too early to examine the longer term effects of the changes in entrepreneurial conditions, the paper presents the first large-scale comparative evidence of the indications of a divergence in entrepreneurial development between the three countries. There was a greater incidence of turnover among the senior management team in Russia. Managers in Ukraine and Belarus had more diverse strategic objectives in contrast to those in Russia where managers have behaved in a more realistic fashion by focusing on retrenchment.For academics, the study's findings suggest further research is needed to examine the longer term nature and effects of corporate entrepreneurship, compare entrepreneurship in new start-ups in the three countries, and compare with corporate entrepreneurship elsewhere in emerging markets and the barriers to the development of corporate entrepreneurship. For practitioners and policy makers, the study highlights the need to develop and enforce an appropriate regulatory framework which strengthens the rules of the game under which corporate entrepreneurship operates.     

Communicating nutrition information at the point of purchase: An eye‐tracking study of shoppers at two grocery stores in the United States

Providing nutrition information at the point of purchase is one approach that can be used to help consumers adopt and maintain a healthy diet. Previous research has examined consumer self‐reported notice and use of the information as well as how the design of the information affects its attention and use in a laboratory environment using eye‐tracking methodology. This study advances the literature by applying eye‐tracking methodology to explore consumer visual and choice behavior in a real shopping environment, and by recognizing that nutrition information competes with other visual stimuli in the store and consumers are vulnerable to a “limited attention span” for nutrition information in a shopping setting. Data came from a cross‐sectional survey conducted in two grocery stores in the United States in July 2014 with a convenience sample of 60 grocery shoppers while they were selecting and buying items from one of three product categories (ready‐to‐eat cereal, snacks, and soup). The study finds that point‐of‐purchase nutrition information faced strong competition for participants’ attention from other visual elements in a real shopping environment and the attention is dominated by nonnutrition elements, particularly brand/product name, product imagery, and product pricing. Nutrition‐related information, on the other hand, received much less attention, with claims and front‐of‐package nutrition symbols seen by more participants than the Nutrition Facts label. The study suggests that to more effectively enable nutrition information to “catch the eyes” of shoppers at the point of purchase, increasing consumer exposure to the information and enhancing shopper education may merit further investigation.     

Research rankings of Asia Pacific business schools: Global versus local knowledge strategies

Despite the increasing recognition of the importance of the research mission of universities, no previous work has investigated the research productivity and research strategies of Asia Pacific business schools. This article fills this important gap by conducting the first study to rank the publication productivity of 130 Asia Pacific business schools. Drawing on data from the UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings™ and several additional sources, we rank Asia Pacific business schools’ research productivity in three areas: (1) twenty-four leading business journals, (2) seven top management journals, and (3) five Asia Pacific management journals. We also extend this analysis by documenting the distinct publishing strategies of various Asia Pacific business schools—global, local, or both.

Chinese Management Buyouts and Board Transformation

We assess the extent to which Chinese MBOs of listed corporations enable a balance to be achieved between facilitating growth and supporting the interests of minority shareholders other than the buyout organization. Using novel, hand-collected data from 19 MBOs of listed corporations in China, a matched sample of 19 non-MBOs and the population of listed corporations, we examine the extent to which boards of directors are changed to bring in executive and outside directors with the skills to grow as well as restructure a business. We also examine the extent to which outside directors become involved in actions to develop the business rather than actions related to fostering the interests of all shareholders. We find in fact little evidence that outside board members have the skills to add value to the MBO firms. Boards appear to focus mainly on related-party transactions with some more limited attention to growth strategies. Outside directors do not seem to openly disagree with incumbent managers on the disclosure of their actions but may express their views and exert pressure behind the scenes.     

The making of women trade union leaders

A trade union's constitution is intended to produce its leaders in a democratic and even-handed manner, but the reality for women is one of inequality. They remain almost invisible in senior positions in British unions. The social processes by which women do or do not progress in a union's career structure are investigated through a case study of SOGAT ‘82.     

BIAS IN JOURNAL RATINGS

The present study investigated the association between faculty publication records and their point-based evaluations of finance journals. No relationship was detected between the merit points assigned to finance journals and the journal-specific success of the faculty rendering the journal ratings. However, a negative relationship was found between general publication success of faculty and the merit points they assigned to lower-level journal publications. The association was particularly strong for faculty who had published in the top three finance journals.     

Transactions-Driven Commercial Real Estate Returns: The Panacea to Asset Allocation Models?

A transactions-driven commercial real estate return series is generated in this study to determine whether the reliance on appraised values in the estimation of real estate returns is the source of the reported underpricing of real estate relative to stocks, bonds, and bills when analyzed in a traditional mean-variance setting. The reported underpricing of commercial real estate would be rational if transactions-driven returns exhibit more variance than appraisal-driven returns. While we find that transactions-driven real estate returns have greater variance than appraisal-driven returns for individual properties, most of the individual property risk is idiosyncratic and diversified away at the portfolio level. Real estate continues to be a dominate asset class in mean-variance allocation models even when represented with transactions-driven indices.¹