European deposit insurance scheme and bank board composition

This paper investigates whether bank corporate governance can play a role in the aggregate risk score assigned to individual banks by regulators. We exploit regulatory changes at the European level and a fixed-effects model to reduce endogeneity issues. We contribute to the existing literature on bank corporate governance by showing that board age significantly increases bank risk. This may indicate that boards formed by older members are more entrenched and can also be less dynamic. Board size and gender composition of the board are risk-neutral

The role of venture capital in the emerging entrepreneurial finance ecosystem: future threats and opportunities

The last decade has seen the emergence of alternative sources of early-stage finance, which are radically changing and reshaping the start-up eco-system. These include incubators, accelerators, science and technology parks, university-affiliated seed funds, corporate seed funds, business angels \u2013 including \u201csuper-angels\u201d, angel groups, business angel networks and angel investment funds \u2013 and both equity- and debt-based crowdfunding platforms. In parallel with this development, large financial institutions that have traditionally invested in late-stage and mature companies, have increasingly diversified their investment portfolios to \u201cget into the venture game\u201d, in some cases, through the traditional closed-end funds model and, in other cases through direct investments and coinvestments alongside the closed-end funds. This paper reviews the main features, investment policies and risk-return profiles of the institutional and informal investors operating in the very early stage of the life cycle of entrepreneurial firms. It concludes that traditional closed-end venture capital funds continue to play an important role in early stage finance because of their unique competences (e.g. screening, negotiating and monitoring) in what has become a wider and more complex financing ecosystem

Does corporate governance really matter for firms performance? Evidence from Italian IPOS market

During recent years, corporate governance has received an increasing attention in the academic debate due to several scandals in financial world and consequent changes in the regulatory framework. Through this paper, we aim to take part in the stimulating debate about the relation between corporate governance and performance. Previous literature on this topic provided a solid theoretical framework for our research. This paper contributes to this investigation with an analysis of the Italian market, by the examination of the relation between the market performance of Italian IPOs and their governance structure. In particular, we find evidence of a positive relation between governance, which we measured by a new and original governance index made by 40 provisions, and IPOs performance occurred in the Italian market during period 1998-2008

The role of venture capital and private equity for innovation and development of SMEs : evidence from Italian puzzle

Numerous studies have discussed that even if fundamental for innovation and economic growth, SMEs are often financially more constrained than large firms. Therefore, venture capitalists are often the only available sources of financing to small and young companies. Through the analysis of a database that includes 160 funding deals signed in Italy, we research for empirical evidence of the determinants and effects of VC and PE investments. We find that VC and PE funds are more likely to finance younger and smaller firms. We confirm the presence of the certification effect under new circumstances applying to SMEs

Emerging trends in entrepreneurial finance

The emergence of new sources of financing in the aftermath of the financial crisis has substantially increased the funding options available to new entrepreneurial ventures. Technology parks, startup incubators and accelerators, business angels and angel investment organizations, equity crowdfunding platforms, venture capital funds, corporate seed funds and institutional investors directly investing in new ventures, have significantly increased the menu of funding channels, in many cases by leveraging the disrupting effects of Fintech companies and the emergence of internet-based segments of the capital market. As a consequence, a new financing eco-system for new ventures has emerged in recent years that has significant implications for both investors and entrepreneurs, impacting on entrepreneurial growth paths and creating new policy challenges at both the national and global scales. The substantially larger set of funding channels has not only been instrumental in the unprecedented growth in the number of early stage companies but has also raised new questions that have challenged scholars and practitioners and policymakers alike. Idiosyncratic risk-return profiles and investment philosophies, unorthodox investment practices, innovative value-adding contributions to portfolio companies ventures and structurally different exit options are some of the areas that require urgent investigation. The first \u201cEmerging Trends in Entrepreneurial Finance\u201d Conference, 1\u20132 June 2017 organized by the Stevens School of Business, the University of Piemonte Orientale and the Editors of Venture Capital: an International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance at the Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ, USA) with the sponsorship of Hanlon Financial Systems Center and the Stevens Venture Center, aimed at gathering world-class scholars in the field of entrepreneurial finance to stimulate a debate on the evolution of the financing ecosystem for new ventures. From the close to 75 submissions, of which 16 were accepted for presentation. the Guest Editors of this special Issue have selected six outstanding papers that address crucial topics and recent developments

A Cascade Neural Network Architecture investigating Surface Plasmon Polaritons propagation for thin metals in OpenMP

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) confined along metal-dielectric interface have attracted a relevant interest in the area of ultracompact photonic circuits, photovoltaic devices and other applications due to their strong field confinement and enhancement. This paper investigates a novel cascade neural network (NN) architecture to find the dependance of metal thickness on the SPP propagation. Additionally, a novel training procedure for the proposed cascade NN has been developed using an OpenMP-based framework, thus greatly reducing training time. The performed experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed NN architecture for the problem at hand

What drives the active involvement in business angel groups? The role of angels' decision-making style, investment-specific human capital and motivations

This paper sheds light over the operations and internal structure of business angel groups (BAGs), a leading actor inside the informal venture capital industry, due to its capability to build cognitive resources and shared competencies that are eventually provided to funded ventures alongside equity capital. We develop a framework based on the role of business angels' decision-making style, human capital and motivation as major determinants of their active involvement in the many different activities performed by angel groups, either investment related activities or group management activities. Our empirical analysis relies on a novel survey-based dataset containing qualitative and quantitative information provided by the members of two large and rather homogeneous business angel groups located in France and in Italy. Results show that business angels with a control-oriented decision-making style tend to be more actively involved in key angel group activities. Human capital built through investment experience, retirement status, as well as initial motivation to join an angel group are also significant drivers of angel involvement in several key BAG activities

Weight Loss in Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease: Should We Consider Individualised, Qualitative, ad Libitum Diets? A Narrative Review and Case Study.

In advanced chronic kidney disease, obesity may bring a survival advantage, but many transplant centres demand weight loss before wait-listing for kidney graft. The case here described regards a 71-year-old man, with obesity-related glomerulopathy; referral data were: weight 110 kg, Body Mass Index (BMI) 37 kg/m2, serum creatinine (sCr) 5 mg/dL, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 23 mL/min, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) 75 mg/dL, proteinuria 2.3 g/day. A moderately restricted, low-protein diet allowed reduction in BUN (45–55 mg/dL) and good metabolic and kidney function stability, with a weight increase of 6 kg. Therefore, he asked to be enrolled in a weight-loss program to be wait-listed (the two nearest transplant centres required a BMI below 30 or 35 kg/m2). Since previous low-calorie diets were not successful and he was against a surgical approach, we chose a qualitative, ad libitum coach-assisted diet, freely available in our unit. In the first phase, the diet is dissociated; he lost 16 kg in 2 months, without need for dialysis. In the second maintenance phase, in which foods are progressively combined, he lost 4 kg in 5 months, allowing wait-listing. Dialysis started one year later, and was followed by weight gain of about 5 kg. He resumed the maintenance diet, and his current body weight, 35 months after the start of the diet, is 94 kg, with a BMI of 31.7 kg/m2, without clinical or biochemical signs of malnutrition. This case suggests that our patients can benefit from the same options available to non-CKD (chronic kidney disease) individuals, provided that strict multidisciplinary surveillance is assured