Knowledge misappropriation risks and contractual complexity in entrepreneurial ventures’ non-equity alliances

Small Business Economics - This paper explores the role of anticipated knowledge misappropriation risks in contract design in non-equity alliances involving high-tech entrepreneurial ventures. We...     

RISK MEASURES: RATIONALITY AND DIVERSIFICATION

When there is uncertainty about interest rates (typically due to either illiquidity or defaultability of zero coupon bonds) the cash‐additivity assumption on risk measures becomes problematic. When this assumption is weakened, to cash‐subadditivity for example, the equivalence between convexity and the diversification principle no longer holds. In fact, this principle only implies (and it is implied by) quasiconvexity. For this reason, in this paper quasiconvex risk measures are studied. We provide a dual characterization of quasiconvex cash‐subadditive risk measures and we establish necessary and sufficient conditions for their law invariance. As a byproduct, we obtain an alternative characterization of the actuarial mean value premium principle.     

Firm size and the adoption of flexible automation

Data on the diffusion of flexible automation systems in the Italian metalworking industry are used to point out the role of size for the adoption of complex, systemic innovations. Plant and firm sizes turn out to be positively correlated to adoption rates. Moreover, adoption is more likely, ceteris paribus, in plants which are part of large industrial groups. This pattern applies in general, and is particularly remarkable for more advanced solutions. In this light, guidelines for industrial policies that focus on financial support, the diffusion of industrial standards, and the correction of asymmetries in the availability of know-how and skills are proposed.Financial support for this paper was provided by the Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione (MPI 40% research funds). Grants from the Fondazione Mauro and the CNR research project Tecnologie Meccaniche are also acknowledged. The research took advantage of the FLAUTO database, set up at the Laboratorio di Economia dei Processi di Automazione, MIP-Politecnico di Milano.     

Venture Capital Investments in Europe and Portfolio Firms' Economic Performance: Independent Versus Corporate Investors

Using a new European Commission‐sponsored longitudinal dataset—the VICO dataset—we assess the impact of independent (IVC) and corporate venture capital (CVC) investments on the economic performance of European high‐tech entrepreneurial firms during the period 1992–2010. After controlling for potential sources of endogeneity and selection bias, our results indicate that both IVC and CVC investments boost portfolio firms' economic performance. These effects are mostly due to an increase in real sales value. Moreover, the dynamics of the impact of VC investments on firms’ overall economic performance and its components—real sales value, real fixed assets, and real labor costs—differs depending on the type of investor. Finally, we do not detect any impact related to the syndication of investments by both IVC and CVC investors.     

Modeling hard and soft facts for SMEs: Some international evidence

This paper asks how well the use of quantitative and qualitative variables can improve the assessment of companies' creditworthiness and how this result can be influenced by the economic and financial peculiarities of countries. We harden qualitative variable measures to model soft information aimed at scoring microfirms, small, and medium‐sized firms. The structural survey covers Germany, Italy, and the UK in a sample of about 17 thousand companies observed during the financial crisis. Soft facts are determined within the balanced scorecard framework in order to find out the impact of customers, business processes, learning and growth, and financial perspectives. Our findings show that credit models integrating soft variables optimize the risk estimation, but estimates are country‐specific and should be tailored to the characteristics of each economic system.     

Monotone continuous multiple priors

Summary. In a multiple priors model á la Gilboa and Schmeidler (1989), we provide necessary and sufficient behavioral conditions ensuring the countable additivity and non-atomicity of all priors.Received: 25 November 2002, Revised: 24 June 2004, JEL Classification Numbers: D81.We thank Roko Aliprantis, Maristella Botticini, Erio Castagnoli, Larry Epstein, Paolo Ghirardato, Itzhak Gilboa, Luigi Montrucchio, David Schmeidler, Marciano Siniscalchi, an Associate Editor, and an anonymous referee for helpful discussions. Fabio Maccheroni and Massimo Marinacci gratefully acknowledge the financial support of MIUR and NOMOS Sistema (Milano).     

Investments in worker health and production: Evidence from Vietnam

In manufacturing industries, occupational health and safety measures ensure better working conditions for employees, which may influence their productivity. We study the impact of investments undertaken by small and medium enterprises in Vietnam in mitigating indoor pollution (including air quality improvements, heat and noise protection as well as lighting) on firm-level gross output and value added. We find that the amount invested by the firm in health has a significant positive effect on both outcomes. Given historically poor working conditions in Vietnam, policy implications relate to incentivizing and enabling firms to undertake such investments, on both moral and economic grounds.     

The Core of Large Differentiable TU Games

For suitable non-atomic TU games ν, the core can be determined by computing appropriate derivatives of ν, yielding one of two stark conclusions: either core(ν) is empty or it consists of a single measure that can be expressed explicitly in terms of derivatives of ν. In this sense, core theory for a class of games may be reduced to calculus. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Number: C71.     

Market Organization and Propagation of Shocks: The Furniture Industry in Germany and Italy

In this paper we study the furniture industry in two European countries, Germany and Italy. Although the two industries are characterized by very similar output and technology, they differ widely in terms of market organization, most notably the distribution of firms by size, and the organization of retail. We find some evidences that these differences have an influence on the dynamic behavior of industry output, prices and exports in the two countries.