IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eecrev/v101y2018icp459-478.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Specialist versus generalist investors: Trading off support quality, investment horizon and control rights

Author

Listed:
  • Andrieu, Guillaume
  • Groh, Alexander Peter

Abstract

We model an entrepreneur’s selection of either an active (specialist) or a passive (generalist) investor for an innovative venture that requires external equity for startup and expansion financing. We assume that the specialist investor provides better support but has a shorter investment horizon than the generalist. We particularly focus on the entrepreneur’s net present value (NPV)-maximizing contract, taking into account the specialist’s potential moral hazard. This latter might try selling his claim in a secondary transaction to an uninformed outside investor, even though the project is unsuccessful and should be abandoned. We show that the entrepreneur may trade off crucial contract parameters when seeking external financing. Either type of investor may be preferable, contingent on the allocation of control rights, the investor’s support quality and investment horizon, the chances of success, and the venture’s expected liquidation value.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrieu, Guillaume & Groh, Alexander Peter, 2018. "Specialist versus generalist investors: Trading off support quality, investment horizon and control rights," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 459-478.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:101:y:2018:i:c:p:459-478
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.10.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292117302003
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.10.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gustavo Manso, 2011. "Motivating Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1823-1860, October.
    2. Arcot, Sridhar & Fluck, Zsuzsanna & Gaspar, José-Miguel & Hege, Ulrich, 2015. "Fund managers under pressure: Rationale and determinants of secondary buyouts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 102-135.
    3. Bruno Biais & Catherine Casamatta, 1999. "Optimal Leverage and Aggregate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1291-1323, August.
    4. Bottazzi, Laura & Da Rin, Marco & Hellmann, Thomas, 2008. "Who are the active investors?: Evidence from venture capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 488-512, September.
    5. James A. Brander & Edward Egan & Thomas F. Hellmann, 2010. "Government Sponsored versus Private Venture Capital: Canadian Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: International Differences in Entrepreneurship, pages 275-320, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Hellmann, Thomas & Thiele, Veikko, 2015. "Friends or foes? The interrelationship between angel and venture capital markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 639-653.
    7. Gompers, Paul & Lerner, Josh, 1996. "The Use of Covenants: An Empirical Analysis of Venture Partnership Agreements," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 463-498, October.
    8. Josh Lerner & Antoinette Schoar, 2005. "Does Legal Enforcement Affect Financial Transactions? The Contractual Channel in Private Equity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(1), pages 223-246.
    9. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Strömberg, 2003. "Financial Contracting Theory Meets the Real World: An Empirical Analysis of Venture Capital Contracts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 281-315.
    10. Antoine Renucci, 2014. "Bargaining with Venture Capitalists: When Should Entrepreneurs Show their Financial Muscle?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(6), pages 2197-2214.
    11. Lerner, Josh & Schoar, Antoinette, 2004. "The illiquidity puzzle: theory and evidence from private equity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 3-40, April.
    12. Leslie M. Marx, 1998. "Efficient venture capital financing combining debt and equity," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 3(4), pages 371-387.
    13. Florida, Richard & Kenney, Martin, 1988. "Venture capital and high technology entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 301-319.
    14. repec:cup:jfinqa:v:46:y:2011:i:06:p:1755-1793_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Bascha, Andreas & Walz, Uwe, 2001. "Convertible securities and optimal exit decisions in venture capital finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 285-306, September.
    16. Douglas Cumming, 2008. "Contracts and Exits in Venture Capital Finance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(5), pages 1947-1982, September.
    17. Kandel, Eugene & Leshchinskii, Dima & Yuklea, Harry, 2011. "VC Funds: Aging Brings Myopia," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 431-457, April.
    18. Andrieu, Guillaume & Groh, Alexander Peter, 2012. "Entrepreneurs' financing choice between independent and bank-affiliated venture capital firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 1143-1167.
    19. Schwienbacher, Armin, 2013. "The entrepreneur's investor choice: The impact on later-stage firm development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 528-545.
    20. Giacinta Cestone, 2014. "Venture Capital Meets Contract Theory: Risky Claims or Formal Control?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(3), pages 1097-1137.
    21. Gompers, Paul & Lerner, Josh, 1999. "An analysis of compensation in the U.S. venture capital partnership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 3-44, January.
    22. Rajan, Raghuram G, 1992. "Insiders and Outsiders: The Choice between Informed and Arm's-Length Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1367-1400, September.
    23. Winton, Andrew & Yerramilli, Vijay, 2008. "Entrepreneurial finance: Banks versus venture capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 51-79, April.
    24. Gorman, Michael & Sahlman, William A., 1989. "What do venture capitalists do?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 231-248, July.
    25. Manju Puri & Rebecca Zarutskie, 2012. "On the Life Cycle Dynamics of Venture-Capital- and Non-Venture-Capital-Financed Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(6), pages 2247-2293, December.
    26. Oliver Hart & John Moore, 1994. "A Theory of Debt Based on the Inalienability of Human Capital," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 841-879.
    27. Schwienbacher, Armin, 2007. "A theoretical analysis of optimal financing strategies for different types of capital-constrained entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 753-781, November.
    28. Philippe Aghion & Patrick Bolton, 1992. "An Incomplete Contracts Approach to Financial Contracting," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(3), pages 473-494.
    29. Elitzur, Ramy & Gavious, Arieh, 2003. "Contracting, signaling, and moral hazard: a model of entrepreneurs, 'angels,' and venture capitalists," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 709-725, November.
    30. Sahlman, William A., 1990. "The structure and governance of venture-capital organizations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 473-521, October.
    31. Hellmann, Thomas, 2002. "A theory of strategic venture investing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 285-314, May.
    32. Douglas Cumming & Sofia Johan, 2008. "Information asymmetries, agency costs and venture capital exit outcomes," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 197-231, February.
    33. Inderst, Roman & Muller, Holger M., 2004. "The effect of capital market characteristics on the value of start-up firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 319-356, May.
    34. Elango, B. & Fried, Vance H. & Hisrich, Robert D. & Polonchek, Amy, 1995. "How venture capital firms differ," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 157-179, March.
    35. Francesca Cornelli & Oved Yosha, 2003. "Stage Financing and the Role of Convertible Securities," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(1), pages 1-32.
    36. Masako Ueda, 2004. "Banks versus Venture Capital: Project Evaluation, Screening, and Expropriation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(2), pages 601-621, April.
    37. Giacinta CESTONE, 2001. "Venture Capital Meets Contract Theory: Risky Claims or Formal Control?," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 480.01, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    38. de Bettignies, Jean-Etienne & Brander, James A., 2007. "Financing entrepreneurship: Bank finance versus venture capital," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 808-832, November.
    39. Cumming, Douglas & Johan, Sofia Atiqah binti, 2008. "Preplanned exit strategies in venture capital," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(7), pages 1209-1241, October.
    40. Gompers, Paul A., 1996. "Grandstanding in the venture capital industry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 133-156, September.
    41. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Strömberg, 2004. "Characteristics, Contracts, and Actions: Evidence from Venture Capitalist Analyses," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(5), pages 2177-2210, October.
    42. Douglas Cumming & Grant Fleming & Armin Schwienbacher, 2009. "Style Drift in Private Equity," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5‐6), pages 645-678, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chircop, Justin & Johan, Sofia & Tarsalewska, Monika, 2020. "Does religiosity influence venture capital investment decisions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Andrieu, Guillaume & Peter Groh, Alexander, 2021. "Strategic exits in secondary venture capital markets," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(2).
    3. Bhattacharya, Abhi & Sardashti, Hanieh, 2022. "The differential effect of new product preannouncements in driving institutional and individual investor ownership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 811-823.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rin, Marco Da & Hellmann, Thomas & Puri, Manju, 2013. "A Survey of Venture Capital Research," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 573-648, Elsevier.
    2. Andrew Metrick & Ayako Yasuda, 2011. "Venture Capital and Other Private Equity: a Survey," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 619-654, September.
    3. Andrieu, Guillaume & Peter Groh, Alexander, 2021. "Strategic exits in secondary venture capital markets," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(2).
    4. Andrieu, Guillaume & Groh, Alexander Peter, 2012. "Entrepreneurs' financing choice between independent and bank-affiliated venture capital firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 1143-1167.
    5. Johannes Wallmeroth & Peter Wirtz & Alexander Peter Groh, 2017. "Institutional Seed Financing, Angel Financing, and Crowdfunding of Entrepreneurial Ventures: A Literature Review," Working Papers hal-01527999, HAL.
    6. Inci, Eren & Barlo, Mehmet, 2010. "Banks versus venture capital when the venture capitalist values private benefits of control," MPRA Paper 25566, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Bottazzi, Laura & Da Rin, Marco & Hellmann, Thomas, 2008. "Who are the active investors?: Evidence from venture capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 488-512, September.
    8. Bengtsson, Ola & Sensoy, Berk A., 2011. "Investor abilities and financial contracting: Evidence from venture capital," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 477-502, October.
    9. Schwienbacher, Armin, 2013. "The entrepreneur's investor choice: The impact on later-stage firm development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 528-545.
    10. Jens Burchardt & Ulrich Hommel & Dzidziso Samuel Kamuriwo & Carolina Billitteri, 2016. "Venture Capital Contracting in Theory and Practice: Implications for Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(1), pages 25-48, January.
    11. Tereza Tykvová, 2018. "Venture capital and private equity financing: an overview of recent literature and an agenda for future research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 325-362, May.
    12. Cumming, Douglas J., 2005. "Capital structure in venture finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 550-585, June.
    13. Bottazzi, Laura & Da Rin, Marco & Hellmann, Thomas, 2009. "What is the role of legal systems in financial intermediation? Theory and evidence," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 559-598, October.
    14. Annalisa Croce & Diego D’Adda & Elisa Ughetto, 2015. "Venture capital financing and the financial distress risk of portfolio firms: How independent and bank-affiliated investors differ," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 189-206, January.
    15. Caselli, Stefano & Garcia-Appendini, Emilia & Ippolito, Filippo, 2013. "Contracts and returns in private equity investments," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 201-217.
    16. Hellmann, Thomas, 2006. "IPOs, acquisitions, and the use of convertible securities in venture capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 649-679, September.
    17. de Bettignies, Jean-Etienne & Ries, John, 2023. "When less is more: Information and the financing of innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 346-369.
    18. Suting Hong & Konstantinos Serfes & Veikko Thiele, 2020. "Competition in the venture capital market and the success of startup companies: Theory and evidence," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 741-791, October.
    19. Jean-Etienne de Bettignies, 2008. "Financing the Entrepreneurial Venture," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(1), pages 151-166, January.
    20. Jean-Etienne de Bettignies & Anne Duchêne, 2015. "Product Market Competition and the Financing of New Ventures," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(8), pages 1849-1867, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Allocation of control rights; Investment horizon; Entrepreneurial finance; Venture capital; Business angels;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:101:y:2018:i:c:p:459-478. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eer .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.