Critical Innovations in the UK Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Equity Alternative Finance Markets for Small Firm Growth

© The Author(s) 2016. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation by Sage Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. It is available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1465750316655906This paper examines the disruptive nature of financial innovations available to small firms by the growing range of online platforms that have emerged in the UK since the financial crisis. It is unveiled that finance provided to small firms via such mechanisms is not identical to more traditional sources and its adoption therefore cannot be said to be simply a question of direct substitution based, for example, on a price comparison. These offer a series of important advantages over more traditional sources of early-stage capital for entrepreneurs seeking funding. Service innovations around security, flexibility of terms, speed of access and transparency of pricing are as important as price considerations for many users, as are innovations made possible by the way these online markets are structured and in particular in the way these innovative structures allow important types of risk to be dispersed and mitigated.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND DEMOCRATIC POLITICS

The advent of impact assessment as a tool of policy is the latest chapter in our understanding of the relationship between science and politics. As such, it presents at least two challenges to democratic politics. Given its emphasis on appropriate procedural character of conteniporary democratic systems. And by raising the value of technical and scientific information in environmental disputes, impact assessment poses a challenge to existing concepts of popular sovereignty, based as they are on interest and preference rather than knowledge. These challenges, however, do not rep- resent irreconcilable differences. Although there may be an inherent ten- sion between impact assessment and democratic politics, there are also areas of affinity between the two. And we are destined to accept and adapt to this tension because, in fact, understanding is one of our principal defenses against tyranny. Copyright 1988 by The Policy Studies Organization.

Abuse of Dominance in Technology-Enabled Markets: Established Standards Reconsidered?

This paper seeks to examine whether the legal standards underpinning the application of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) need to be revisited in light of the alleged specificities of “technology-enabled” markets. To this end, the paper is divided in seven parts. Following this short introduction (A), the paper offers first a definition of the very notion of “technology-enabled” markets (B). Then, it questions whether competition agencies should depart from conventional enforcement techniques when reviewing conduct in fast-moving, technology-enabled markets, and follow new, expedited enforcement procedures as proposed recently by several high-ranking officials (C). After this, the paper turns to substantive issues. It begins by reviewing the intricacies of market definition and dominance in technology-enabled markets (D). It then offers some general thoughts on whether a new, general legal standard for a determination of unlawful abuse is needed in technology enabled markets (E). Finally, the paper considers six categories of abusive conduct in the high-tech sector and shows that, faced with a variety of applicable legal standards for each of them, competition agencies, courts and plaintiffs have – understandably – almost always invoked and applied the loosest possible test in support of their allegations or findings. We suggest, in turn, that under existing case-law stricter standards could and should be applied, and that this is particularly important in the context of technology-enabled markets for the simple reason that it is in these markets that the most common pitfalls and shortcomings of the EU law on abuse of a dominant position are magnified (F)

Reviewing existing policies for unleashing and fostering entrepreneurship in selected African countries

Public Policies are vital for unleashing and fostering entrepreneurship in every society. This paper reviewed the national policies for the promotion and support of productive entrepreneurial activities aimed at enhancing the achievement of entrepreneurial economic growth in three countries in Africa. This is an explorative multiple case study that has used national and international documents and reports to examine the state and nature of the entrepreneurship policies in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. The selected countries are all members of the East African Community. The findings revealed what has been accomplished and what challenges policymakers face in improving entrepreneurial performance. The comparison showed the major similarities and dissimilarities between countries and which countries are performing fairly well in specific policy areas. From the findings, an entrepreneurship policy framework was developed that takes into account the type and level of entrepreneurship being practiced. This could be useful to policymakers taking into consideration that entrepreneurship exists in the formal and informal sectors at the national level. At the regional level, the similarities of policies could be a starting point for a regional entrepreneurship policy because entrepreneurial economic growth of countries and regions is a strong indicator of successful entrepreneurship policies