The VCT scheme offers large tax breaks (worth around 38.4% of the amount subscribed) to encourage UK taxpayers to invest in start-up companies. Taking account of deadweight and other effects, the scheme currently costs close to £1 in tax subsidies per additional £1 invested in eligible venture...

We investigate the effectiveness of government backed venture capital schemes (GVCs) in funding early stage entrepreneurial ventures. Addressing fundamental issues of additionality, crowding out, economic impact and sustainability, we discover that UK GVC-backed schemes have evolved to provide...

This paper reviews the evidence on financing technology-based small firms (TBSFs) in Europe. The main findings in the literature are the 1) European TBSF's finance new investments by relying primarily on internal funds, due to capital market failures induced by asymmetric information; 2)...

Using a large sample of fund-years, we investigate the performance reporting behaviors of general partners (GPs) and limited partners (LPs) of Venture Capital (VC) funds. Self-reporting by GPs raises the concern that the information investors rely on may be biased, either due to selective...

Venture capital trusts (VCTs) were introduced to provide private equity capital for small expanding companies and to promote innovation. Investors in IPOs are rewarded with tax relief on the cost of lock-up provisions to stabilise the market. This paper examines the market reaction and trading...

This paper provides a cross-country analysis of the determinants of cleantech venture capital investment with a unique worldwide dataset of 31 countries spanning 1996-2010. The data show consistent evidence of a pronounced role for oil prices in driving cleantech venture capital deals, which is...

Cleantech venture capital investment differs from the typical venture capital investment in that it tends to be very capital intensive and faces greater technology risks associated with the functioning of the technology, scalability and exit requirements than the typical venture capital...

This paper investigates how patent applications and grants held by new ventures improve their ability to attract venture capital (VC) financing. We argue that investors are faced with considerable uncertainty and therefore rely on patents as signals when trying to assess the prospects of...