Entrepreneurial finance markets are in a dynamic state. New market niches and players have developed and continue to emerge. The rules of the game and the methods for receiving financial backing have changed in many ways. This editorial and the special issue of Small Business Economics focus on crowdfunding (CF) and initial coin offerings (ICOs), which are two distinct but important entrepreneurial finance market segments of the future. Although the two market segments initially appear to be similar, we identify differences between them. Our comparison focuses on the stakeholders, microstructures, regulatory environments, and development of the markets. We conclude with suggestions for future ICO and CF research.

Regulatory spillovers occur when regulation in one country affects either the expected regulatory approach and/or entrepreneurial finance markets in other countries. Drawing on institutional theory, we investigate the global implications of a regulatory spillover on entrepreneurship. We argue that regulatory spillovers have both short- and long-term effects on the number and quality of entrepreneurial finance initiatives such as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Based on a large-scale sample of ICOs in 108 countries, we find that a regulatory ban of ICOs in one country causes a short-term increase in the number of low-rated ICOs in other countries and a long-term drop in the number of ICOs, especially low-rated, which increases the average ICO rating. That is, a restrictive regulation triggered a process of increased market selection.

Equity crowdfunding markets have grown exponentially over the last few years. Despite this impressive growth, significant informational asymmetry problems may plague these markets, making them susceptible to difficulties and even market failure. In this paper, we depart from current equity crowdfunding research that focuses almost exclusively on the funding success and funding dynamics on platforms to study the effective governance of equity-crowdfunded (ECF) firms and how it relates to these firms’ success. We propose a conceptual model that identifies a multitude of governance mechanisms (e.g. internal or external and formal or informal) that potentially operate in equity crowdfunding markets to reduce adverse selection and moral hazard problems. Further, building on this framework, we offer a roadmap for future research that examines how different governance mechanisms may help in the selection and development of successful ECF firms.

We investigate the effects of local banking development on the debt financing of new firms using a large sample of Italian firms. Controlling for potential endogeneity issues, we find that new firms are more likely to use bank debt and have higher leverage in provinces with more bank branches relative to population. However, it is important to account for bank heterogeneity. For instance, more foreign banks in a province actually reduce access to bank debt. Taken together, our study provides new and nuanced evidence on the role of local banking development for the debt financing of new firms.

Using a resource dependence perspective, we theorize and show that non-venture-capital-backed ventures founded in U.S. states with a lower availability of venture capital (VC) are more likely to relocate to California (CA) or Massachusetts (MA)—the two VC-richest states—compared to ventures founded in states with a greater availability of VC. Moreover, controlling for self-selection, ventures that relocate to CA or MA subsequently have a greater probability of attracting initial VC compared to ventures that stay in their home state. We discuss the implications for theory, future research, and practice.

We develop a new perspective on capital structure differences between for-profit social and commercial enterprises by combining imprinting and social entrepreneurship theory. Using a longitudinal matched sample, we find that for-profit social enterprises have 40% to 13% lower leverage and up to four times greater leverage stability over time than commercial enterprises. Our results suggest that these differences in capital structure derive from the process of prosocial organizing, which goes beyond the primary focus on financial preferences. Thus, for-profit social enterprises—and similar hybrid organizations, such as B corporations—may require theories adjusted to their context.

Research question/issue: This paper provides a first-time glimpse into the postcampaign financial and innovative performance of equity-crowdfunded (ECF) and matched nonequity-crowdfunded (NECF) firms. We further investigate how direct and nominee shareholder structures in ECF firms are associated with firm performance. Research findings/insights: We find that ECF firms have 8.5 times higher failure rates than matched NECF firms. However, 3.4 times more ECF firms have patent applications than matched NECF firms. Within the group of ECF firms, we find that ECF firms financed through a nominee structure make smaller losses, whereas ECF firms financed through a direct shareholder structure have more new patent applications, including foreign patent applications. Theoretical/academic implications: Our findings suggest that there are important adverse selection issues on equity crowdfunding platforms, although these platforms also serve as a catalyst for innovative activities. Moreover, our findings suggest that there is a more complex relationship between dispersed versus concentrated crowd shareholders and firm performance than currently assumed in the literature. Practitioner/policy implications: for policy makers and crowdfunding platforms, investor protection against adverse selection will be important to ensure the sustainability of equity crowdfunding markets. For entrepreneurs and crowd investors, our study highlights how equity crowdfunding and the adopted shareholder structure relate to short-term firm performance.

Prior research has focused on the factors that affect funding success on equity crowdfunding platforms, but a detailed understanding of the factors that drive firms to search for equity crowdfunding in the first place is lacking. Drawing on the pecking order theory, we argue that firms list on equity crowdfunding platforms as a “last resort”—that is, when they lack internal funds and additional debt capacity. In line with the pecking order theory, the empirical evidence shows that firms listed on equity crowdfunding platforms are less profitable, more often have excessive debt levels, and have more intangible assets than matched firms not listed on these platforms. We discuss the implications for theory and practice.

We investigate the effects of the recent financial crisis on start-up financing and survival using a dataset that covers all Belgian new business registrations between 2006 and 2009. We find that bank debt is the single most important source of funding, even for start-ups founded during the crisis. However, start-ups founded in crisis years use less bank debt and have a higher likelihood of bankruptcy, even after controlling for their creditworthiness. These effects are stronger for start-ups that are more dependent on bank debt, such as start-ups founded in bank dependent industries and start-ups founded by entrepreneurs who are more likely to be financially constrained.

Research on venture capital internationalization (VC) has expanded rapidly over the last decade. This paper reviews the extant literature on VC internationalization and highlights gaps in our knowledge. We identify three major research streams within this literature, which revolve around the following questions: (1) which VC firms invest across borders and what countries do they target, with a macro-economic or a micro-economic focus; (2) how do VC firms address the liabilities of non-domestic investing; and (3) what are the real effects of international VC investments? We provide an overview of the contributions in these research streams, discuss the role of public policy, and suggest avenues for future research. Specifically, we call for a deeper understanding of: (1) the functioning and impact of VC firms’ modes of internationalization; (2) micro level processes such as the functioning and decision making of international investment committees, the interaction between headquarters and local offices, or the development of international human and social capital; (3) the role of country institutions in VC internationalization and its real effects; and (4) the interplay of international VC with alternative financing sources.

The proliferation of new sources of entrepreneurial finance potentially makes it easier for ventures to raise capital and grow. To date, entrepreneurial finance literature has developed a rich tradition of research on venture capital and angel finance. However, the emergence of “new” sources of finance, such as crowdfunding and the limited attention paid to “traditional” debt financing and financial bootstrapping, offers opportunities to explore, from different points of view and theoretical perspectives, the challenges that ventures face. The objective of this Special Issue is to explore these new and traditional sources of finance and suggest how these phenomena can extend entrepreneurial finance literature and guide new theory building. This paper outlines the new sources of entrepreneurial finance, and in comparing them with more traditional sources, we propose theoretical and empirical challenges that these new and traditional sources present to entrepreneurship scholars. We also provide a brief summary of papers in the Special Issue and outline promising avenues for future research.

Research summary: Integrating the behavioral and institutional perspectives, we propose that a country's formal institutions, particularly its legal frameworks, affect managers' deployment of slack resources. Specifically, we explore the moderating effects of creditor and employee rights on the performance effects of slack. Using longitudinal data from 162,633 European private firms in 26 countries, we find that financial slack enhances firm performance at diminishing rates, whereas human resource (HR) slack lowers performance at diminishing rates. However, financial slack has a more positive effect on firm performance in countries with weaker creditor rights, whereas HR slack has a more negative effect on performance in countries with stronger employee rights. The results provide a richer view of the relationship between slack and firm performance than currently assumed in the literature. Managerial summary: a key dilemma managers often encounter is whether, on the one hand, they should build in excess resources to buffer their firms from internal and external shocks and to pursue new opportunities or whether, on the other hand, they should develop “lean” firms. Our study suggests that excess cash resources—which are usually viewed as easy to redeploy—benefit firm performance, especially when firms operate in countries with weaker creditor rights. However, excess human resources—which are usually viewed as more difficult to redeploy—hamper firm performance, particularly when firms operate in countries with stronger labor protection laws. Thus, the management of slack resources critically depends on the characteristics of these resources (e.g. redeployability) and the institutional context in which managers operate. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Drawing on a behavioral theory perspective, we investigate how distinct types of slack resources affect distinct aspects of firms’ exporting behavior. Using longitudinal data of Belgian manufacturing firms, we find that financial and human resource (HR) slack affect the probability of exporting positively at a diminishing rate. Controlling for the export decision, we find that HR slack affects export intensity negatively, while financial and HR slack affect export diversity positively at a diminishing rate. Findings are economically meaningful, especially for new exporters. Taken together, our study adds new insights at the nexus of the international business and slack literatures.

Past research has established that new firms can enhance their attractiveness to prospective resource providers by affiliating with more reputable firms. But research on this process has yet to fully account for two critical realities underscored by recent research: (1) firms need to acquire resources from different groups of resource providers and (2) reputation is multidimensional. Drawing on the organizational reputation literature and on information processing theory, we propose that two groups of resource providers will respond differently to new firms’ affiliations in accordance with differences in the groups’ abilities to recognize and interpret reputation-related signals. We also propose that within a single group of resource providers, distinct characteristics of the affiliate will exert different influences. We test these propositions using longitudinal data from Belgian firms that affiliated with venture capital (VC) investors. Consistent with our predictions, we find that characteristics of a VC affiliate exert more influence on prospective financiers than on prospective employees. We further find that prospective financiers were more influenced by a VC’s industry-specific experience than by its media prominence, whereas prospective employees were more influenced by a VC’s media prominence than by its industry-specific experience. Taken together, the findings show that new firms’ resource attraction trajectories are shaped by their affiliates in more complex ways than past research has accounted for.

We investigate the evolution of entrepreneurial firms' debt policies over a period of 15 years after startup, considering leverage, debt specialization, debt maturity and debt granularity. Our analysis is based on a unique sample covering all non-financial Belgian firms founded between 1996 and 1998. We find that the debt policy of entrepreneurial firms is remarkably stable over time. The debt policy in the initial year of operation is a very important determinant of future debt policies, even after controlling for traditional contemporaneous determinants. The founder-CEO has an important impact on the stability of debt policies: the influence of initial debt policies on future debt policies is significantly reduced when the founder-CEO is replaced or when (s)he dies. Combined, our findings support imprinting theory.

Although a significant body of research has investigated the independent effects of distinct types of slack resources, current theoretical and empirical work does not sufficiently clarify how bundles of slack resources affect firm outcomes. Drawing on the resource constraints literature and the slack literature, we investigate how distinct bundles of financial and human resource slack influence firm performance and survival. Using a sample of 4715 European information and communication technology firms, we show that neither parallel resource abundance (having slack in financial and human resources) nor parallel resource constraints (lacking slack in financial and human resources) are optimal for firm performance and survival. However, firms with selective constraints that combine slack in financial resources with constraints in human resources exhibit superior performance without decreased survival prospects. Taken together, this study extends current research by providing a more nuanced view of the relationships between slack resources, firm performance, and firm survival.

Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: We first study how cross-country differences in shareholder protection against self-dealing and personal bankruptcy laws affect the financing of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). Second, we study how venture capital (VC) investors - as expert monitors and initiators of "good" governance practices in firms - moderate aforementioned relationships. Research Findings/Insights: Using a unique longitudinal dataset of 6,813 NTBFs from six European countries, we find that better shareholder protection rights increase the probability of raising external equity financing and allow firms to raise larger amounts of equity financing. Less forgiving personal bankruptcy laws decrease the probability of raising debt financing and limit the amount of debt financing that is raised. VC ownership strengthens the aforementioned relationships. Theoretical/Academic Implications: This study is one of the first to provide evidence on the relationship between national legal systems and the financing of private NTBFs. We further address a recurring call for more research on the interaction between country-level legal systems and firm-level corporate governance. In particular, we show that expert monitors, such as VC investors, strengthen the relationship between national legal systems and NTBF's access to external financing. Practitioner/Policy Implications: Policy makers often focus on increasing the supply of VC financing as a panacea for external financing constraints experienced by NTBFs. This study shows that VC ownership is particularly effective at increasing firms' access to external financing in countries with strong investor protection rights and entrepreneur-friendly personal bankruptcy laws. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

This paper studies the role of entrepreneurs in investment tie formation in science-based entrepreneurial firms. Specifically, we address why investment tie formation is path dependent for some firms but more amenable to intentional management for others. Using longitudinal case studies, our evidence suggests that early investment tie formation is path dependent because scientific entrepreneurs typically approach only one or a few prospective investors from within their institutional context. Differences in experience between early investors affect the professionalization of entrepreneurial teams (or lack thereof), which influences the extent to which subsequent investment tie formation becomes more amenable to intentional management or remains path dependent. © 2013 Baylor University.

Building upon self-efficacy and collective effort theories, we study the association between the selection behavior of venture capitalists and their involvement in value adding activities. We argue that investors, who prioritize different characteristics of a business proposal during selection, will be more or less confident of their own abilities and the abilities of entrepreneurial teams to effectively add value to portfolio companies and hence will be more or less involved in providing value adding activities. In order to test this claim, we use a stratified sample comprising 68 European early stage high tech venture capitalists. Results show that venture capitalists, who focus on entrepreneurial team characteristics or financial criteria during selection, are less involved in value adding activities compared to their peers, who focus on technological criteria. We discuss these findings from a theoretical and practical perspective. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

In this study, we seek to further delineate factors that condition the relationship between slack resources and firm performance. To do so, we develop and test a model that establishes the role of venture capital (VC) and angel investors as powerful external stakeholders who positively moderate the slack-performance relationship. In addition, we provide more insight into this relationship by examining differences between these two types of private investors and by examining the role of their ownership stakes. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 1215 private firms, including VC-backed firms, angel-backed firms, and similar firms without such investors. We find that the presence of VC investors positively moderates the relationship between both financial and human slack resources and firm performance, while angel investors only positively moderate the effect of human resource slack. Further, VC investors are only marginally better at helping entrepreneurs to extract value from human resource slack than angel investors and they are no better when it comes to financial slack. Finally, we find that the impact of financial and human resource slack on firm performance is more positive in VC-backed firms when investors hold high ownership stakes, an effect which is significantly stronger than when angel investors hold high ownership stakes. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies.

This paper studies how the presence of cross-border as opposed to domestic venture capital investors is associated with the growth of portfolio companies. For this purpose, we use a longitudinal research design and track sales, total assets and payroll expenses in 761 European technology companies from the year of initial venture capital investment up to seven years thereafter. Findings demonstrate how companies initially backed by domestic venture capital investors exhibit higher growth in the short term compared to companies backed by cross-border investors. In the medium term, companies initially backed by cross-border venture capital investors exhibit higher growth compared to companies backed by domestic investors. Finally, companies that are initially funded by a syndicate comprising both domestic and cross-border venture capital investors exhibit the highest growth. Overall, this study provides a more fine-grained understanding of the role that domestic and cross-border venture capital investors can play as their portfolio companies grow and thereby require different resources or capabilities over time. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Building upon prior research that demonstrates how the limited knowledge of finance alternatives of entrepreneurs may cause suboptimal finance decisions, this paper examines how entrepreneurs' human and social capital influence their knowledge of finance alternatives. For this purpose, we use survey data from 103 Belgian start-ups. Results demonstrate that entrepreneurs with a business education and entrepreneurs with experience in accountancy or finance have a broader knowledge of finance alternatives. Having a strong network in the financial community is further positively associated with the knowledge of finance alternatives. However, generic human capital, including higher education, industry experience, and management experience, is almost not related with the knowledge of finance alternatives. © 2011 International Council for Small Business.

While bootstrap finance is widely used in entrepreneurial ventures, both scholars and practitioners have presented conflicting views on the relation between financial bootstrapping and venture growth. This article empirically investigates the association between bootstrap strategies used at startup and subsequent venture growth. For this purpose, we use a longitudinal database comprising data from both questionnaires and financial accounts of 214 new ventures. Findings demonstrate that the association between financial bootstrapping and venture growth is either nonexistent or positive. More specifically, new ventures that use more owner funds, employ more interim personnel, encourage customers to pay more quickly, and apply for more subsidy programs exhibit higher growth over time. We discuss the managerial and policy implications of these results and suggest avenues for future research. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

This paper examines incremental financing decisions within high-growth businesses. A large longitudinal dataset, free of survivorship bias, to cover financing events of high-growth businesses for up to 8 years is analyzed. The empirical evidence shows that profitable businesses prefer to finance investments with retained earnings, even if they have unused debt capacity. External equity is particularly important for unprofitable businesses with high debt levels, limited cash flows, high risk of failure or significant investments in intangible assets. These findings are consistent with the extended pecking order theory controlling for constraints imposed by debt capacity. It suggests that new equity issues are particularly important to allow high-growth businesses to grow beyond their debt capacity. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

The paper analyses venture capitalists' (VCs) selection process in biotechnology ventures. Biotech ventures operate in an extremely risky environment making this an interesting research setting. The majority of venture capitalists exclude certain biotech sectors ex-ante because of regulatory uncertainty, the long development process to a market-ready product and the difficulty to understand the technology. The more thorough due diligence process focuses on financial, market and technology criteria. Management team capabilities are more important for later stage investors, whereas early stage investors expect to have an impact on the future recruiting of professional managers. Despite the higher risk of biotech investments, we find no evidence that VCs require higher hurdle rates or more complete contracts for these investments, compared to investments in other technology-based companies. The most important reason for not reaching an investment agreement is disagreement over valuation, due to large differences in risk perception between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists and the lack of a standard valuation tool for biotech projects. Copyright © 2006 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.