Contracting with repeated moral hazard and private evaluations

A repeated moral hazard setting in which the Principal privately observes the Agent’s output is studied. It is shown that there is no loss from restricting the analysis to contracts in which the Agent is supposed to exert effort every period, receives a constant efficiency wage and no feedback until he is fired. The optimal contract for a finite horizon is characterized, and shown to require burning of resources. These are only burnt after the worst possible realization sequence and the amount is independent of both the length of the horizon and the discount factor (δ). For the infinite horizon case a family of fixed interval review contracts is characterized and shown to achieve first best as δ → 1. The optimal contract when δ << 1 is partially characterized. Incentives are optimally provided with a combination of efficiency wages and the threat of termination, which will exhibit memory over the whole history of realizations. Finally, Tournaments are shown to provide an alternative solution to the problem.

From public to private : the performance of former public workers in the Brazilian labor market

This paper analyzes the placement in the private sector of a subset of Brazilian public-sector employees. This group left public employment in the mid-1990’s through a voluntary severance program. This paper contrasts their earnings before and after quitting the public sector, and compares both sets of wages to public and private sector earnings for similar workers. We find that participants in this voluntary severance program suffered a significant reduction in average earnings wage and an increase in earnings dispersion. We test whether the reduction in average earnings and the increase in earnings dispersion is the expected outcome once one controls for observed characteristics, by means of counterfactual simulations. Several methods of controlling for observed characteristics (parametric and non-parametrically) are used for robustness. The results indicate that this group of workers was paid at levels below what would be expected given their embodied observable characteristics.

The Brazilian and the french private equity sectors from 2006 to present: a comparative analysis

Private equity, ou o ato de fundos ou investidores de investir em empresas não cotadas em bolsa pública, assumiu uma importância crescente no mundo financeiro nos últimos anos. De fato, enquanto o surgimento de um setor de private equity (PE) tem sido um grande fenômeno em mercados emergentes desde meados dos anos 2000, a crise financeira mundial enfraqueceu private equity no mundo desenvolvido. Assim, esta pesquisa vai se concentrar em dois países com dinâmicas supostamente muito diferentes em relação a este sector: França e Brasil. O objetivo será o de discernir padrões gerais de comportamento em ambos os sectores de PE durante todo o período compreendido 2006-2013, e tentar determinar em que medida eles são comparáveis. Utilizando a literatura como fonte conceitual para o quadro comparativo a ser desenvolvido, será analisado se as condições do mercado e do ambiente institucional evoluíram durante o período estudado na França e no Brasil, se comparar, e se eles impactaram o nível de atividade de private equity - oferta e demanda de fundos - em ambos os países. Para identificar esses padrões, a pesquisa contará com uma análise de dados exploratória qualitativa, com base em um quadro dos determinantes do setor de PE identificados e retirados da literatura acadêmica. Esta pesquisa trazera sua contribuição para o trabalho acadêmico existente sobre private equity, graças à sua natureza comparativa e para a sua conclusão sobre a relevância dos determinantes acima mencionados sobre a atividade de private equity na França e no Brasil.

Avaliação das teorias da liquidação ineficiente, monitoramento e risco moral no Brasil

O presente trabalho busca ir além da decisão, capital próprio ou terceiro, e verificar a decisão de qual tipo de recurso terceiro angariar, portanto, analisa a composição do endividamento da empresa com relação à fonte de financiamento: recursos privados ou públicos. Logo, foram construídos modelos econométricos com o intuito de investigar quais características, por parte da empresa, são relevantes na escolha de qual fonte recorrer para financiar suas atividades. Foram utilizados dados em painel de empresas brasileiras não pertencentes ao setor de Finanças e Seguros, cujas ações são negociadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (BOVESPA). Neste trabalho foram investigadas variáveis das empresas referentes à qualidade e credibilidade das informações contábeis, total de ativos imobilizados, lucratividade, alavancagem, setor de atuação, tamanho da empresa e internacionalização. Os resultados indicaram que fatores como total de ativos imobilizados, alavancagem, lucratividade e alguns setores de atuação são relevantes para determinar a estratégia de financiamento da firma. A variável nível de disclosure, responsável por diferenciar a empresa que possui qualidade da informação contábil superior às demais, não apresentou ser significante, embora, com o sinal esperado. Portanto, os resultados sugerem que as empresas estudadas tendem a seguir a teoria da liquidação ineficiente quando tomam as suas decisões de financiamento.

Toward a venture capital-backed entrepreneurship model in Brazil

It is well documented venture capital‟s positive impact on creation and development of highly successful innovative companies worldwide. Venture capital not only provides funding to startups and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) that usually have financing gap, especially in emerging markets, but also brings a whole package of valuable resources that reduces companies‟ mortality rates. Using quantitative data obtained from an empirical survey as background, this paper discusses the role of venture capital in the success of innovative startups and SMEs, and it examines if, and to what extent, venture capitalists are supporting the entrepreneurial activity in Brazil. I focused on the portfolio companies analyzes and confirmed the hypothesis that the venture capital industry has been supporting entrepreneurship in Brazil. Second, I identified an important evidence of a venture capital‟s positive impact on economic activity, especially the capital market. Third, it became clear that venture capital-back entrepreneurship is highly concentrated in the Southeast region. And fourth, I identified that private equity expansion is also playing a key role on that dynamics. As consequence, I conclude that the venture capital (and private equity) industry has been very important to build an enormously dynamic and strong local entrepreneurial economy. Its committed capital grew 50% per year between 2005 and 2008 to achieve US$27 billion, which invested US$ 11 billion, which employs 1,400 professionals (75% with post-graduate degrees) and maintains 482 portfolio companies, mostly SMEs. In addition, venture capital-backed companies represented one third of the IPOs that occurred in Brazil between 2004 and 2008 (approximately US$15 billion).

Toward convergence? The brazilian stock market concentration and the role of private equity in its diversification

Using quantitative data obtained from public available database, this paper discusses the difference between of the Brazilian GDP and the Brazilian Stock Exchange industry breakdown. I examined if, and to what extent, the industry breakdowns are similar. First, I found out that the Stock Exchange industry breakdown is overwhelming different from the GDP, which may present a potential problem to asset allocation and portfolio diversification in Brazil. Second, I identified an important evidence of a convergence between the GDP and the Stock Exchange in the last 9 years. Third, it became clear that the Privatizations in the late 90’s and IPO market from 2004 to 2008 change the dynamics of the Brazilian Stock Exchange. And fourth, I identified that Private Equity and Venture Capital industry may play an important role on the portfolio diversification in Brazil.

Assessing the performance of private equity investments

This study presents an alternative investment projection model to estimate the future values of Private Equity (PE) investments. The performance of PE investments is assessed by analyzing the risk-return relationship relative to simulated Public Market (PM) investments that mimic the cash flow patterns of PE investments. The model allows for a quantified analysis of the underlying inputs that outline the PE performance and risks, and accounts for survivorship bias. These inputs include the fund manager’s decisions regarding the selection, leverage, size, duration and timing of investment and divestments.

The role of venture capitalists in the identification and measurement of intangible assets

The increase in the importance of intangibles in business competitiveness has made investment selection more challenging to investors that, under high information asymmetry, tend to charge higher premiums to provide capital or simply deny it. Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) organizations developed contemporarily with the increase in the relevance of intangible assets in the economy. They form a specialized breed of financial intermediaries that are better prepared to deal with information asymmetry. This paper is the result of ten interviews with PE/VC organizations in Brazil. Its objective is to describe the selection process, criteria and indicators used by these organizations to identify and measure intangible assets, as well as the methods used to valuate prospective investments. Results show that PE/VC organizations rely on sophisticated methods to assess investment proposals, with specific criteria and indicators to assess the main classes of intangible assets. However, no value is given to these assets individually. The information gathered is used to understand the sources of cash flows and risks, which are then combined by discounted cash flow methods to estimate firm's value. Due to PE/VC organizations extensive experience with innovative Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), we believe that shedding light on how PE/VC organizations deal with intangible assets brings important insights to the intangible assets debate.

Private equity and venture capital in an emerging economy: evidence from Brazil

This article, based on the Brazilian experience, examines how Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) adapts to an emerging economy Our dataset is based on two extensive questionnaires answered by each of the 65 PE/VC organizations with offices in Brazil. The results reveal that a lack of infrastructure and security create investment opportunities. However, institutional idiosyncrasies represent a major barrier and force PE/VC – a U.S. investment model – to adapt by investing in different stages of business development, avoiding LBOs, taking a generalist industry approach, geographically concentrating in the financial cluster and relying on arbitration for dispute resolution.

Private equity na carteira de investimentos das entidades de previdência privada

Este trabalho visa examinar e discutir o investimento em cotas de fundos de private equity, venture capital e mezaninos, denominados pela legislação recente, no Brasil, de fundos de investimento em participações e em empresas emergentes (FIPs e FIEEs), nos investimentos de entidades de previdência complementar, considerando as características singulares dessa classe de investimentos alternativos (carteira de participações).