Unleashing firms' potential

For a long time, growth has been assumed to be the result of an optimal combination of the production factors of labour and capital. This article argues that growth of companies no longer depends on only those two factors, but also on a third one: i.e., intangibles, such as investment readiness, investors mindset and entrepreneurship. Tangibles are the necessary, but not sufficient condition. The current era of robotization, digitalization and disruptive innovation increases the importance of the intangibles. Therefore, regional policy should henceforth be reoriented towards those intangibles leaving behind the classical subsidy-oriented policy, focused on SMEs as such, without controlling for those intangibles. That is the only way to achieve that companies with a growth potential can succeed in becoming a scale-up company, and that lifestyle companies optimize their growth potential. Moreover, if support policies are designed on that basis, they might even bring former offshored companies back

Executive forum : the scale-up gap : and how to address it

There is academic unanimity concerning the fact that the equity market does not function at the lower end. Risks are too high and not rewarded by sufficient return. Hence, companies looking for small amounts of money in the seed or early stage phase do not find it. This paper argues that second- and third-round financing, even though less risky, has also become problematic, especially in Europe. While start-ups are confronted with the small equity gap at seed and early stage, scale-ups are also confronted with an equity gap at later stages. A holistic policy, not focused on a specific stage of investment, should therefore replace a targeted one. The paper shows that in this context a government-backed debt-financing instrument delivers better value for public money than a fund-of-funds approach and increases the efficiency of the latter

Guarantee instrument obsolete or future-oriented?

Venture capital, business angels, crowdfunding and mezzanine are among the financing instruments considered as sexy and future-oriented. Therefore, they receive a lot of attention from researchers and policymakers. This is in big contrast to the guarantee instrument often considered as an obsolete bureaucratic instrument leading to moral hazard at lenders’ level. Moreover, guarantees are not only linked — as the traditional approach suggests — to credits, but can be a useful instrument, on top of the different co-investment schemes, to boost venture capital. This chapter argues that a guarantee policy should be an integral part of the landscape of financial instruments as it can be very efficient in terms of value for public money and pleads for a renewal of academic research on the matter and ends with concrete research suggestions

Éthique et politique : un couple infernal

Thème d’éternelle actualité, la relation entre éthique et politique ne peut manquer de nous interpeller. Partis politiques ou fonctionnaires, personne ne semble échapper à des actes que l’on peut difficilement considérer conformes à une éthique digne de ce nom. L’annonce d’un cas de fraude ou de corruption dans lequel le secteur public joue un rôle clé est devenue banale. Tel est le constat de départ de cet article, qui démontre par ailleurs que la globalisation ne fait qu’accroitre ce danger. L’objectif n’est nullement de disséquer l’une ou l’autre affaire, ou de faire de la casuistique, mais d’analyser la relation infernale entre politique et éthique. Après l’analyse des deux composantes de cette relation, nous nous pencherons sur leur interdépendance

Business Angels. Rare vogels of ware engelen? Een praktische benadering van het informeel risicokapitaal

De auteurs willen met dit boek het concept "business angels" verduidelijken en op een praktische manier uiteenzetten hoe dergelijke financiering in de praktijk verloopt en welke bedrijven en bedrijfsleiders daarvoor in aanmerking komen. Voor- en nadelen van business angel financiering worden besproken en vergeleken met andere financieringsvormen, daarbij is het boek doorspekt met concrete voorbeelden.$ Niet alleen bedrijfsleiders of startende ondernemers maar ook investeerders en potentiële investeerders die open staan voor nieuwe vormen van financiering zullen baat hebben bij dit praktische boek. Maar daarnaast is het ook belangrijk dat eerder conventionele financiers, zoals de banken of de formele risicokapitalisten, zich voor het "business angel" fenomeen interesseren. Immers, "business angels" zijn niet alleen een andere financieringsvorm, maar vaak openen zij voor de ondernemer de deur naar die meer conventionele kanalen