Ergodic universality of some topological dynamical systems

The Krieger generator theorem says that every invertible ergodic measure-preserving system with finite measure-theoretic entropy can be embedded into a full shift with strictly greater topological entropy. We extend Krieger's theorem to include toral automorphisms and, more generally, any topological dynamical system on a compact metric space that satisfies almost weak specification, asymptotic entropy expansiveness, and the small boundary property. As a corollary, one obtains a complete solution to a natural generalization of an open problem in Halmos's 1956 book regarding an isomorphism invariant that he proposed

High-tech entrepreneurial ventures seeking external equity: whether, when, where… and why not?

In this paper, we study the demand of high-tech entrepreneurial ventures for external equity, revealing the conditions that determine whether, when and where they decide to seek external equity during their lives. We also provide evidence on the most important reasons for not looking for external equity at all. We focus on a sample of 530 high-tech entrepreneurial ventures located in 7 European countries and founded between 1984 and 2009. We reveal that company-level characteristics, namely the human capital, the innovativeness, the size, the asset intangibility, and the alternatives to equity capital (internal cash flows and debt) determine whether, when (i.e., at what age) and when (i.e., in international or domestic markets) companies seek external equity. Industry- and country-level variables also play a secondary role in explaining high-tech entrepreneurial ventures\u2019 demand for external equity

A beacon in the night : government certification of SMEs towards banks

Policymakers around the world have created several schemes to support financially constrained SMEs. However, whether these mechanisms improve the access to external sources of finance or on the contrary crowd out private players remains a relevant question. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of a recent form of government support, called participative loan, in improving recipient SMEs\u2019 access to external financial debt. Relying on the literature about the certification effect, we develop hypotheses on the conditions under which the improvement is stronger. The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 488 Spanish SMEs that received participative loans from a Spanish government agency and a control group of 719 matched twins. We show that the former register a significantly higher external financial debt (+31.5%). The effect is stronger for smaller firms, or for those operating in high-technology sectors, which suffer more acutely from information asymmetries, and negligible for firms that already received a support from another government-supported institution. After ruling out alternative explanations, we interpret this result as a positive evidence of government certification of SMEs towards banks

Bridging the equity gap for young innovative companies: The design of effective government venture capital fund programs

Governmental venture capital funds (GVCs) are created by policymakers around the world to support young innovative companies (YICs) with the aim of \u201cbridging the equity gap\u201d. In this paper, we study the heterogeneity in the design of GVC programs in Europe and identify the design features that are most effective in achieving the desired outcomes of this policy. Specifically, we focus on the probability that GVC-backed companies will receive additional funds from private venture capital investors and, ultimately, changes in their growth and innovation outcomes. We find that the choices of location, colocation, syndication and industry focus of a GVC program substantially influence the extent to which it is able to achieve such goals. Important policy implications are discussed

Bratteli diagrams where random orders are imperfect

For the simple Bratteli diagrams B where there is a single edge connecting any two vertices in consecutive levels, we show that a random order has uncountably many infinite paths if and only if the growth rate of the level-n vertex sets is super-linear. This gives us the dichotomy: a random order on a slowly growing Bratteli diagram admits a homeomorphism, while a random order on a quickly growing Bratteli diagram does not. We also show that for a large family of infinite rank Bratteli diagrams B, a random order on B does not admit a continuous Vershik map

Direct and Indirect Government Venture Capital Investments in Europe

This paper provides evidence of the broad government presence in the European venture capital industry. Two forms of intervention are considered: first, direct stand-alone government venture capital funds and, second, indirect private funds to which governments commit funds as limited partners. The overall government presence seems to be much more important than previously documented, as we find that the government intervenes, on average, in 42.2% of venture capital investments in Europe. We also show that European countries are heterogeneous in their use of these two channels, and we consider possible early explanations for this choice of policy mix. Lastly, we provide some evidence on the consequences of these policies in terms of SME's perceived access to financing

What money cannot buy : a new approach to measure venture capital ability to add non-financial resources

Grounding our work on the resource-based view of the firm, we study and quantify the impact of non-financial resources added by venture capital (VC) on the growth performance of investee companies. While most of the literature compares VC-backed companies with similar companies that did not receive external financing, our originality stems from the use of a counterfactual of companies that received external quasi-equity financing (in the form of participative loans) but not non-financial resources. We use a difference-in-difference (DD) estimator to disentangle the effect of an injection of financial resources (which can be used by companies to acquire non-financial resources) from the contribution of the unique non-financial resources brought in by VC (which companies cannot otherwise acquire). Our results are based on a large sample of young Spanish SMEs that received either VC (915) or participative loans (1551) between 2005 and 2013 as first type of financing. We find that the contribution of the non-financial resources leads to yearly increases of 12.86% in employment, 38.13% in total assets, and 54.03% in sales. Furthermore, we find that only the most experienced VC firms contribute with valuable non-financial resources

Generation of measures on the torus with good sequences of integers

Let $S= (s_1<s_2<\dots)$ be a strictly increasing sequence of positive integers and denote $\mathbf{e}(\beta)=\mathrm{e}^{2\pi i \beta}$. We say $S$ is good if for every real $\alpha$ the limit $\lim_N \frac1N\sum_{n\le N} \mathbf{e}(s_n\alpha)$ exists. By the Riesz representation theorem, a sequence $S$ is good iff for every real $\alpha$ the sequence $(s_n\alpha)$ possesses an asymptotic distribution modulo 1. Another characterization of a good sequence follows from the spectral theorem: the sequence $S$ is good iff in any probability measure preserving system $(X,\mathbf{m},T)$ the limit $\lim_N \frac1N\sum_{n\le N}f\left(T^{s_n}x\right)$ exists in $L^2$-norm for $f\in L^2(X)$. Of these three characterization of a good set, the one about limit measures is the most suitable for us, and we are interested in finding out what the limit measure $\mu_{S,\alpha}= \lim_N\frac1N\sum_{n\le N} \delta_{s_n\alpha}$ on the torus can be. In this first paper on the subject, we investigate the case of a single irrational $\alpha$. We show that if $S$ is a good set then for every irrational $\alpha$ the limit measure $\mu_{S,\alpha}$ must be a continuous Borel probability measure. Using random methods, we show that the limit measure $\mu_{S,\alpha}$ can be any measure which is absolutely continuous with respect to the Haar-Lebesgue probability measure on the torus. On the other hand, if $\nu$ is the uniform probability measure supported on the Cantor set, there are some irrational $\alpha$ so that for no good sequence $S$ can we have the limit measure $\mu_{S,\alpha}$ equal $\nu$. We leave open the question whether for any continuous Borel probability measure $\nu$ on the torus there is an irrational $\alpha$ and a good sequence $S$ so that $\mu_{S,\alpha}=\nu$.Comment: 44 page

Do laypersons conflate poverty and neglect?

ObjectiveChild neglect is often initially identified via adults who come into contact with children and report their suspicions to the authorities. Little is known about what behaviors laypersons view as constituting neglect and hence worth reporting. We examined laypersons' perceptions of neglect and poverty, particularly how these factors independently and jointly shaped laypersons' decisions about what warrants official reporting of neglect, and how laypersons' socioeconomic background related to their decisions.HypothesesWe anticipated that neglect would be correctly perceived as such, but that extreme poverty would also be perceived as neglect, with these latter perceptions being most pronounced among laypersons of higher socioeconomic background.MethodIn 2 studies, adults read vignettes about a mother's care of her daughter and rendered decisions about whether the mother's behavior met the legal standard of neglect and should be reported. In Study 1 (N = 365, 55% female, mean age = 37.12 years), indicators of poverty and neglect were manipulated. In Study 2 (N = 474, 53% female, mean age = 38.25 years), only poverty (housing instability: homelessness vs. not) was manipulated.ResultsLaypersons often conflated poverty and neglect, especially in circumstances of homelessness. Laypersons of lower socioeconomic background were less likely to perceive neglect in general and to report an obligation to make a referral (R2s ranged from 17-26%, odds ratios ranged from 2.24-3.08).ConclusionsLaypersons may overreport neglect in circumstances of poverty. Increasing public awareness of how to recognize and separate neglect from poverty may enhance identification of vulnerable children and families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)