Enhancing rigor in quantitative entrepreneurship research

MAULAN MUKAAN OA-ARTIKKELI. AVAA KUN ILMESTYY VIRALLISESTIReflecting on common empirical concerns in quantitative entrepreneurship research, recent calls for improved rigor and reproducibility in social science research, and recent methodological developments, we discuss new opportunities for further enhancing rigor in quantitative entrepreneurship research. In addition to highlighting common key concerns of editors and reviewers, we review recent methodological guidelines in the social sciences that offer more in-depth discussions of particular empirical issues and approaches. We conclude by offering a set of best practice recommendations for further enhancing rigor in quantitative entrepreneurship research.Peer reviewe

Risk capital for growing world-class companies: challenges for European policy

Brief to the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office in preparation for the Finnish Presidency of the European Commission 2006.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The availability of risk capital in all its variants is a critical resource for a modern and adaptive economy. The effective exploitation of new knowledge requires a commercialisation process that is conditional on informed, skilled and risk accepting investors both as individuals (Business Angels) and professionals (Venture Capitalists). Similarly, the restructuring and reinvigoration of large established corporate businesses, often on an international or global scale, has been materially assisted by the advent of a finance industry focused on Management Buy-Out activity. In Europe, the provision and use of equity-based financing is both patchy across countries and materially lags behind the levels of development seen in the USA. Both inefficiencies in the supply of venture capital and in the demand from informed and growth-oriented entrepreneurs has resulted in parochial and nationally focused risk capital industries that are individually and collectively weaker than their US competitors. Global trends in both the provision by and demands of institutional finance seeking more and larger management buy-out opportunities, as well as the increasingly borderless identity of new technology paradigms, is threatening the relevance of Europe’s current, predominantly country-based model of private equity. There is a real need to develop a more pan-European private equity industry. In creating an Entrepreneurial Europe, policy makers need to recognise that: 1. Business Angels are a fundamental and early building block of an innovative and adaptive enterprise community. For early-stage ventures, they are collectively more important than venture capital. The national fiscal environment should incentivise and reward risk taking by entrepreneurs and their early-stage financial backers. 2. The fiscal environment should allow inter-country tax transparency. The costs associated with avoiding multiple taxation by private equity firms are a material barrier to a European market for risk capital. 3. Government should work to encourage the involvement of private and commercial investors rather than seeking to substitute for their unique skills by acting as a direct investor of public monies into new enterprises. Where government supports ‘hybrid’ venture capital funds by co-investing, it should stipulate that such funds must be of a commercially viable scale. 4. Governments themselves can be highly entrepreneurial. Yet, inter-country learning from both good and bad enterprise policy initiatives is poor and should be addressed by greater international contact between policy makers and academic experts.Finnish Prime Minister’s Office & Economic Council of Finlan

The Effects of Incentive Structures on the Performance of Publicly Funded Venture Capital Funds

A majority of developed countries have realized the importance of functioning venture capital markets for job creation, innovation, and economic growth. Accordingly, governments have taken measures to support the development and efficient functioning of national venture capital markets. As a policy response, particularly in the more problematic early-stage investment area, many countries have set up government financed support programs to channel risk capital to new ventures through private VC funds. The choice of the incentive structure for a publicly co-financed and privately managed venture capital fund is crucial for the success of a program. However, there is very little robust research determining the actual effects of different structures on fund performance. A comparison of government VC structures has been hindered by both the variety of utilized structures and the plurality of domestic environments. In this study, we examine the effects of different incentive structures on the performance of publicly co-financed venture capital programs under changing market conditions by comparing these structures in a simulation model

Public Financing of Young Innovative Companies in Finland

The access of young innovative companies in Finland to professionally delivered sources of start up and early growth finance has improved significantly over the last decade. Despite this long-term positive trend, there are major challenges that still remain. Finland’s world class innovation reputation is not yet matched by equivalent commercial success for its innovative products and services despite many recent successes. At the start of the present century, the international decline of the financial markets following the bursting of the dot.com bubble caused serious damage to technology investors in Finland given the immature venture capital infrastructure at the time. Promising but early stage enterprises were particularly vulnerable to negative market sentiments. At this crucial time, Tekes, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd., Finnvera, and Sitra all directly addressed elements of the financing problem for entrepreneurs. Each agency helped to fill the ‘financing gap’ experienced by young but high potential Finnish firms with a range of targeted financing instruments. Public policy enacted through these agencies has been extremely valuable, and probably essential, in helping many new young innovative companies to emerge and in supporting existing young enterprises to survive the hostile first years of the twenty-first century. However, over the next five to seven years, Finland needs to further develop the financing of young innovative companies to reflect current and new challenges, and to ensure the continuing effectiveness of the Finnish financing system across different stages of the economic cycle. A number of recommendations are made in this report. First, Finland should set an ambitious goal to make Finland one of the most vibrant investment markets in the world for investing in and creating and capturing value from young innovative companies. This market should be privately led and provide clear incentives for professional investors as well as for the entrepreneurial owner-managers to invest in and create and capture value from young innovative companies. Second, the government should give clear signals of commitment of making high growth entrepreneurship and private risk taking valued and rewarded in Finland. Tax incentives could be used to catalyze entrepreneurial activity and private investment and to reinforce this signal. Third, Finland should take an open and global approach and leverage all available financial and human resources to the nation’s long term advantage regardless of their origin. Fourth, Finland should be determined in implementing this market-centered strategy. Accordingly, the government should remove unnecessary duplication, fragmentation and unwarranted growth of public services. The improvement of inter-agency coordination and a greater customer orientation in the provision of public finance should be a priority. The state’s primary responsibility is to create the long-run conditions for the optimal working of competitive and efficient markets. Actions by the state that replace or substitute for the private and fully commercial actions of professional investors should be taken with great caution and should, at best, be viewed as temporary.Commissioned by Ministry of Trade and Industry, Finlan

Crafting and assessing design science research for entrepreneurship

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.Recognizing the importance of various types of artifacts for entrepreneurship, design science (DS) has been proposed as an inclusive approach that combines relevance and rigor. By enabling researchers to go beyond their traditional roles as observers and analysts of established artifacts to help design new artifacts, DS can improve the relevance of entrepreneurship research. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on how this type of research can be published in leading entrepreneurship journals. In this editorial, we seek to provide practical guidance on how to craft and assess DS studies that target Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice (ETP) and other top-tier journals.Non peer reviewe

Crafting and Assessing Design Science Research for Entrepreneurship

Recognizing the importance of various types of artifacts for entrepreneurship, design science (DS) has been proposed as an inclusive approach that combines relevance and rigor. By enabling researchers to go beyond their traditional roles as observers and analysts of established artifacts to help design new artifacts, DS can improve the relevance of entrepreneurship research. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on how this type of research can be published in leading entrepreneurship journals. In this editorial, we seek to provide practical guidance on how to craft and assess DS studies that target ETP and other top-tier journals

Suomen Teollisuussijoitus Oy:n (Tesi) arviointi

Arvioinnin kohteena on ollut työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön omistajaohjauksessa toimiva Suomen Teollisuussijoitus Oy:n (Tesi). Tesi on vuonna 1995 perustettu valtion omistama pääomasijoitusyhtiö, joka tekee vähemmistösijoituksia rahastoihin ja kohdeyrityksiin samoin ehdoin yksityisten sijoittajien kanssa. Arviointi tarkastelee Tesin toiminnan tehokkuutta, vaikuttavuutta ja yhteistyötä osana julkisen yritysrahoituksen kokonaisuutta pääomasijoitusmarkkinoilla vuosina 2015–2022. Pitkäjänteisen valtiollisen sijoittajan merkitys on korostunut epävarmoissa markkinatilanteissa ja markkinahäiriöissä. Viime vuosina erityisesti ilmastokriisi, koronapandemia ja Ukrainan sota ovat korostaneet Tesin roolia yhteiskunnallisten haasteiden ratkaisemisessa ja akuuttien markkinahäiriöiden tasaajana. Tesin toiminta muun muassa koronapandemian yhteydessä on laajasti koettu onnistuneena ja tärkeänä. Tesin rooli suomalaisessa pääomasijoitusmarkkinassa on merkittävä ja sen toiminta koetaan laadukkaana ja asiantuntevana. Kriittiset näkemykset liittyvät lähinnä Tesin koettuun portinvartijarooliin uusien rahastojen perustamisessa, sekä jossain määrin suoriin sijoituksiin. Tesillä on myös suuri merkitys tiedon tuottajana, sparraajana ja verkostojen rakentajana. Arviointi sisältää suosituksia sekä Tesin toiminnan kehittämiseksi että koko julkisen pääomasijoitustoiminnan vaikuttavuuden parantamiseksi

Pk-yritysten kumppani haasteissa ja mahdollisuuksissa : Finnveran arvioinnin loppuraportti

Finnvera Oyj on valtion täysin omistama erityistehtäväyhtiö, joka tarjoaa lainoja ja takauksia yritysten vienti-, kasvu- ja muutostilanteiden rahoittamiseen. Yhtiön tehtävänä on riskinjakaminen yksityisten rahoittajien kanssa markkinaehtoisesti. Kokonaisarvio Finnveran toiminnasta on varsin myönteinen; se on ammattimaisesti hoitanut perustehtävänsä ja saavuttanut omistajan asettamat tavoitteet. Finnveran palveluprosessit ovat tehokkaita ja laadukkaita, ja se nauttii säännöllisesti erinomaista asiakaspalautetta. Finnveran rahoitus vastaa markkinoiden tarpeisiin ja sille asetettuihin elinkeinopoliittisiin tavoitteisiin tehokkaasti. Jatkossa eri instrumenttien (lainat, takaukset) käyttöä tulisi kuitenkin seurata, perustella ja optimoida kohderyhmissä tarkemmin. Toimintansa kehittämiseksi arviointi suosittelee Finnveralle aktiivisempaa roolia pk-yritysten rahoituksen tarjonnassa esiintyvien puutteiden korjaamisessa, kohdennetun riskinoton lisäämistä pk-rahoituksessa ja vahvempaa roolia puhtaan siirtymän rahoituksessa. Vaikutusten seurantaa ja arviointia on tarvetta vahvistaa ohjauksen tueksi. Yhteistyötä muiden julkisen rahoittajien kanssa tulisi tiivistää ja EU-rahoituksen mahdollisuuksia hyödyntää aktiivisemmin

Globalisation challenges for Europe: Report by the Secretariat of the Economic Council - PART I

The report analyses globalisation and the policy challenges it poses for Europe. The report comprises 13 articles by European experts, the first describing the globalisation phenomenon and its consequences in the light of latest economic research, followed by three commentary articles to supplement the globalisation analysis. EU competitiveness and EU countries’ structural policy are then surveyed in general. Two articles examine the EU internal market, while four articles analyse innovation policy widely. The final two articles discuss political governance of global and European economic policy issues