A Specified Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) is formed to purchase operating businesses within a priori determined time period. SPACs existed in U.S capital markets since the 1920s. Their corporate structure has recently become debated in the legal and financial literatures, especially their...

This paper shows, using a simple model, that wasteful innovations may result in a loss-loss situation where no country experiences an increase in welfare. If some countries introduce innovations that result in harmful effects on other countries, it may cause the adversely affected countries to...

This paper explores the impact of volatility estimation methods on theoretical option values based upon the Black-Scholes-Merton (BSM) model. Volatility is the only input used in the BSM model that cannot be observed in the market or a priori determined in a contract. Thus, properly calculating...

This paper uses the structure of institutional economics to provide an explanation of the recent U.S. financial crisis. Institutional theory suggests that a county’s political, legal, social, and cultural institutions determine and characterize its economy. An institutional perspective of...

Montenegro, newly independent since 2006, saw its commodity exports collapse in the worldwide financial crisis of 2008. It took three years for the volume of its exports to recover. Using one to four-digit Standard Industrial Trade Classification (SITC) commodity trade data, this paper analyzes...

The European Union was created to promote economic, cultural, and regional prosperity. However, the Global Financial Crisis demonstrates that its economic institutions are flawed. While each sovereign state in the Eurozone forfeits the control of its money supply, the lack of a common fiscal...

Economic geography receives limited consideration in the venture capital literature. This study utilizes thirty years of data concerning companies that initially were backed by venture capital. These firms are located in Entrepreneurial Focal Points in the United States, namely: California,...

The Sultanate of Oman has a diversified economy, unlike many of its neighboring nations that rely almost entirely on oil revenues. Natural gas and several non-energy business sectors, such as tourism, fishing, light manufacturing, and agriculture are expanding rapidly. The Omani economy is one...

The State of Qatar is driven mainly by hydrocarbon revenues, which are estimated to support this tiny country for hundreds of years. The Qatari economy is becoming diversified with industries such as manufacturing, banking, social services, and tourism. Additionally, government financed health...

Do certain regions inherently enjoy an advantage in venture capital investment decisions? And how do industry characteristics affect venture capital activity? These questions fall under the reemerging study of economic geography, which suggests the importance of industrial location to economic...