In 2002 a comprehensive survey of German venture capital and private equity firms was conducted. Based on a follow-up survey in 2005 the development of the German venture capital and private equity market can be shown. This paper summarizes major findings concerning deal flow, screening, due...

Financial theory creates a puzzle. Some authors argue that high-risk entrepreneurs choose debt contracts instead of equity contracts since risky but high returns are of relatively more value for a loan-financed firm. On the contrary, authors who focus explicitly on start-up finance predict that...

Several Länder in Germany have introduced, or are about to introduce, tuition fees for higher education. We discuss three hypotheses pertaining to (i) their distributional effects, (ii) their effect on the demand for higher education and study behaviour, and (iii) the competition and financial...

This paper examines the use of innovation protection mechanisms in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). By starting from a knowledge-based view the aim is to achieve a better understanding of how the role perceived by innovating SMEs of patent protection and the long-term retention of qualified...