Innovation and technology policy (ITP) for catching up: a three phase life cycle framework for industrializing economies

Includes bibliography

Pequenas centrais hidrelétricas face à reestruturação do setor elétrico brasileiro: uma questão de políticas públicas

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

A crise financeira de 2008: os discursos e as estratégias do governo e dos fundos de pensão

This article focuses on the financial crisis beginning in 2008. Drawing on the work of Lebaron (2010; 2011) and (Grün 2010), the study seeks to grasp the cognitive dimension of the crisis through the discourses produced (and reproduced) by members of the Brazilian government involved in controlling the crisis and by the pension fund sector and its strategies. The method was based on analysis of documents produced by the pension fund sector and the Lula Administration in 2008 and the spinoffs of the discourses and strategies. The text indicates the construction of a discourse emphasizing the importance of state regulation (as opposed to market self-regulation) and the central role of pension funds during the process, since they partially abandoned government bonds and migrated to productive investment, in alliance with the private equity sector, especially in financing construction works under the Growth Acceleration Program.

Le scelte di investimento dei fondi pensioni italiani: un’analisi degli asset immobiliari

Il lavoro persegue l’obiettivo generale di indagare sulle scelte di investimento dei fondi pensione italiani. Per giungere al suddetto obiettivo il lavoro si articola in quattro capitoli principali corredati da premessa e conclusioni. Il primo capitolo si preoccupa di analizzare in quale modo le scelte operate dal legislatore italiano abbiano influenzato e influenzino le politiche di investimento dei fondi pensione. E’ indubbio, infatti, che l’intervento del legislatore abbia un forte ascendente sull’operatività dei fondi e possa limitarne o, viceversa, agevolarne l’attività. Alla luce di queste considerazioni, il secondo capitolo mira ad analizzare nel concreto l’influenza delle scelte operate dal legislatore sullo sviluppo del mercato dei fondi pensione italiani. In sostanza, l’obiettivo è quello di fornire informazioni circa il mercato italiano dei fondi pensione sviluppatosi in conseguenza alla normativa testé presentata. Il successivo capitolo, il terzo, propone un’analisi della letteratura che, nel contesto nazionale ed internazionale, ha analizzato la tematica dei fondi pensione. Più nel dettaglio, si propone una disamina dei riferimenti letterari che, affrontando il problema della gestione finanziaria dei fondi pensione, trattano delle politiche e delle scelte di investimento operate da questi. Il quarto capitolo riguarda un’analisi empirica mirata ad analizzare le politiche di investimento dei fondi pensione, in particolare quelle relative agli investimenti alternativi e soprattutto, tra questi, quelli immobiliari. L’obiettivo generale perseguito è quello di analizzare la composizione del patrimonio dei fondi appartenenti al campione considerato e ricavarne indicazioni circa le scelte manageriali operate dai fondi, nonché trarre indicazioni circa lo spazio riservato e/o riservabile alle asset class alternative, soprattutto a quelle di tipo immobiliare. Si evidenzia, infatti, che la verifica presentata riguarda prevalentemente gli investimenti immobiliari che rappresentano nella realtà italiana l’alternative class maggiormente diffusa. L’analisi si concentra, anche se in modo inferiore e con un approccio quasi esclusivamente qualitativo, su altre asset class alternative (hedge fund e private equity). Si precisa, inoltre, che la volontà di focalizzare la verifica sugli alternative investment limita l’analisi ai soli fondi pensione preesistenti che, ad oggi, rappresentano l’unica categoria alla quale è consentito effettuare investimenti di tipo alternativo. A differenza dei fondi di nuova generazione, tali fondi, infatti, non sono sottoposti a limitazioni nell’attività di investimento e, almeno in linea teorica, essi possono optare senza alcuna restrizione per l’asset allocation ritenuta più appropriata Tre sono le domande di ricerca a cui l’analisi proposta mira a dare risposta: Quale è la dimensione e la composizione del portafoglio dei fondi pensione preesistenti? Quale è la dimensione e la tipologia di investimento immobiliare all’interno del portafoglio dei fondi pensione preesistenti? Esiste uno “spazio” ulteriore per gli investimenti immobiliari e/o per altri alternative investment nel portafoglio dei fondi pensione preesistenti? L’analisi è condotta su un campione di dieci fondi preesistenti, che rappresenta il 60% dell’universo di riferimento (dei 29 fondi pensione preesistenti che investono in immobiliare) e la metodologia utilizzata è quella della case study. Le dieci case study, una per ogni fondo preesistente analizzato, sono condotte e presentate secondo uno schema quanto più standard e si basano su varie tipologie di informazioni reperite da tre differenti fonti. 2 La prima fonte informativa utilizzata è rappresentata dai bilanci o rendiconti annuali dei fondi analizzati. A questi si aggiungono i risultati di un’intervista svolta nei mesi di gennaio e febbraio 2008, ai direttori generali o ai direttori dell’area investimento dei fondi. Le interviste aggiungono informazioni prevalentemente di tipo qualitativo, in grado di descrivere le scelte manageriali operate dai fondi in tema di politica di investimento. Infine, laddove presente, sono state reperite informazioni anche dai siti internet che in taluni casi i fondi possiedono. Dalle case study condotte è possibile estrapolare una serie di risultati, che consentono di dare risposta alle tre domande di ricerca poste in precedenza. Relativamente alla prima domanda, è stato possibile stabilire che il portafoglio dei fondi pensione preesistenti analizzati cresce nel tempo. Esso si compone per almeno un terzo di titoli di debito, prevalentemente titoli di stato, e per un altro terzo di investimenti immobiliari di vario tipo. Il restante terzo è composto da altre asset class, prevalentemente investimenti in quote di OICR. Per quanto riguarda la politica d’investimento, si rileva che mediamente essa è caratterizzata da un’alta avversione al rischio e pochissimi sono i casi in cui i fondi prevedono linee di investimento aggressive. Relativamente alla seconda domanda, si osserva che la dimensione dell’asset class immobiliare all’interno del portafoglio raggiunge una quota decrescente nell’arco di tempo considerato, seppur rilevante. Al suo interno prevalgono nettamente gli investimenti diretti in immobili. Seguono le partecipazioni in società immobiliari. L’analisi ha permesso, poi, di approfondire il tema degli investimenti immobiliari consentendo di trarre indicazioni circa le loro caratteristiche. Infine, relativamente all’ultima domanda di ricerca, i dati ottenuti, soprattutto per mezzo delle interviste, permettono di stabilire che, almeno con riferimento al campione analizzato, l’investimento immobiliare perde quota e in parte interesse. Questo risulta vero soprattutto relativamente agli investimenti immobiliari di tipo diretto. I fondi con patrimoni immobiliari rilevanti, infatti, sono per la totalità nel mezzo di processi di dismissione degli asset, mirati, non tanto all’eliminazione dell’asset class, ma piuttosto ad una riduzione della stessa, conformemente anche a quanto richiesto dalle recenti normative. Le interviste hanno messo in luce, tuttavia, che a fronte di un’esigenza generale di contentere la quota investita, l’asset immobiliare è considerato positivamente soprattutto in termini di opportunità di diversificazione di portafoglio e buoni rendimenti nel lungo periodo. I fondi appaiono interessati in modo particolare a diversificare il portafoglio immobiliare, dismettendo parte degli asset detenuti direttamente e aumentando al contrario le altre tipologie di investimento immobiliare, soprattutto quote di OICR immobiliari. Altrettanto positivi i giudizi relativi alle altre asset class alternative. Pur restando ancora limitato il totale delle risorse destinate, tali investimenti sono percepiti come una buona opportunità di diversificazione del portafoglio. In generale, si è rilevato che, anche laddove l’investimento non è presente o è molto ridotto, nel breve periodo è intenzione del management aumentare la quota impiegata.

Corporate Venture Capital: How established firms use external resources to create new competencies

This Doctoral Dissertation is triggered by an emergent trend: firms are increasingly referring to investments in corporate venture capital (CVC) as means to create new competencies and foster the search for competitive advantage through the use of external resources. CVC is generally defined as the practice by non-financial firms of placing equity investments in entrepreneurial companies. Thus, CVC can be interpreted (i) as a key component of corporate entrepreneurship - acts of organizational creation, renewal, or innovation that occur within or outside an existing organization– and (ii) as a particular form of venture capital (VC) investment where the investor is not a traditional and financial institution, but an established corporation. My Dissertation, thus, simultaneously refers to two streams of research: corporate strategy and venture capital. In particular, I directed my attention to three topics of particular relevance for better understanding the role of CVC. In the first study, I moved from the consideration that competitive environments with rapid technological changes increasingly force established corporations to access knowledge from external sources. Firms, thus, extensively engage in external business development activities through different forms of collaboration with partners. While the underlying process common to these mechanisms is one of knowledge access, they are substantially different. The aim of the first study is to figure out how corporations choose among CVC, alliance, joint venture and acquisition. I addressed this issue adopting a multi-theoretical framework where the resource-based view and real options theory are integrated. While the first study mainly looked into the use of external resources for corporate growth, in the second work, I combined an internal and an external perspective to figure out the relationship between CVC investments (exploiting external resources) and a more traditional strategy to create competitive advantage, that is, corporate diversification (based on internal resources). Adopting an explorative lens, I investigated how these different modes to renew corporate current capabilities interact to each other. More precisely, is CVC complementary or substitute to corporate diversification? Finally, the third study focused on the more general field of VC to investigate (i) how VC firms evaluate the patent portfolios of their potential investee companies and (ii) whether the ability to evaluate technology and intellectual property varies depending on the type of investors, in particular for what concern the distinction between specialized versus generalist VCs and independent versus corporate VCs. This topic is motivated by two observations. First, it is not clear yet which determinants of patent value are primarily considered by VCs in their investment decisions. Second, VCs are not all alike in terms of technological experiences and these differences need to be taken into account.

Strumenti finanziari partecipativi e "nuovi" canali di finanziamento delle societa' per azioni

Il lavoro affronta il tema degli strumenti finanziari partecipativi e non partecipativi che possono essere emessi dalle società per azioni, alla luce della disciplina introdotta dalla riforma del diritto societario. Lo studio è diretto a fornire un inquadramento sistematico di queste modalità di finanziamento rispetto alla dicotomia azioni-obbligazioni, anche sotto il profilo contabile, per poi individuare le conseguenti implicazioni in termini di disciplina applicabile. Affrontando il dibattito dottrinale sulla collocazione complessiva degli strumenti ibridi rispetto alle forme di finanziamento tradizionali, si sposa l’opinione secondo cui tutti gli strumenti finanziari non possono essere ricompresi in una categoria unitaria, ma occorre mantenere distinti gli strumenti finanziari partecipativi indicati dall’art. 2346, comma 6, c.c., dagli altri strumenti finanziari ex art. 2411, comma 3, c.c., riconoscendo nei primi delle modalità di raccolta assimilabili al capitale di rischio e nei secondi delle forme di provvista di capitale di debito. Il connotato distintivo tra strumenti finanziari partecipativi e non partecipativi viene individuato non nell’attribuzione di diritti amministrativi – che possono anche non essere assegnati ai titolari di strumenti di cui all’art. 2346, comma 6 – bensì nell’assenza o nella presenza di un obbligo di rimborso dell’apporto fornito all’impresa. Il lavoro esamina inoltre vari profili di disciplina di entrambe le categorie di strumenti, concentrandosi prevalentemente sui diritti patrimoniali ad essi attribuibili, tra cui la partecipazione agli utili e alle perdite e i diritti in sede di liquidazione. Infine si esaminano le previsioni recentemente introdotte dal d.l. n. 83/2012 in tema di titoli obbligazionari, al fine di valutarne l’impatto sull’impianto complessivo della disciplina vigente. In particolare, viene data attenzione alle nuove disposizioni relative alle obbligazioni subordinate e/o partecipative che possono essere emesse dalle società non quotate, mettendo in evidenza le criticità dal punto di vista sistematico in tema di possibile partecipazione agli utili degli obbligazionisti.

Sensibilidad de la oferta de capital riesgo a cambios en el marco regulatorio

Este trabajo analiza la eficacia de dos cambios regulatorios sobre la captación de fondos de capital riesgo. En particular, se estudia el efecto de cambios en la tasa impositiva sobre las ganancias de capital y la introducción de una legislación específica que regula la actividad de capital riesgo. Considerando la población de entidades de capital riesgo en España en el periodo 1991-2007, los resultados muestran la eficacia de la introducción de una regulación específica que pretende limitar la doble tributación y aportar seguridad jurídica a los inversores. Por el contrario, no se encuentra suficiente evidencia del efecto de una reducción impositiva en las ganancias de capital en la tributación de las personas físicas, quizá por el efecto indirecto que tiene a través de la demanda de capital riesgo. Estos resultados son importantes para el regulador pues señalan la efectividad de determinadas normas encaminadas al desarrollo de los mercados de capital riesgo.

Supporting Access to Finance by SMEs: Mapping the initiatives in five EU countries. ECMI Research Report No. 9, April 2014

This paper maps the initiatives to support access to finance for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that were available at national level in 2012 in the five biggest European economies (Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain). This mapping distinguishes initiatives promoted and financed primarily through public resources from those developed independently by the market. A second breakdown is proposed for those sources of finance with different targets, i.e. whether the target is debt financing (typically bank loans at favourable conditions, public guarantees on loans, etc.) or equity financing (typically venture capital funds, tax incentives on equity investments, etc.). A broad set of initiatives has been implemented to close the funding gap of SMEs in these five countries. The total amount of public spending for SMEs, however, has remained well below 1% of GDP. Public subsidisation of bank loans has been by far the most diffused type of intervention. Despite the fact that this strategy might prove to be effective in the short term, it fails to address long-term sustainability issues via a more diversified set of financing tools.

Defining Europe's Capital Markets Union. Bruegel Policy Contribution Issue 2014/12, 13 November 2014

The new European Commission has signalled that it will work to create a ‘capital markets union’. This is understood as an agenda to expand the non-bank part of Europe’s financial system, which is currently underdeveloped. The aim in the short term is to unlock credit provision as banks are deleveraging, and in the longer term, to favour a more diverse, competitive and resilient financial system. Direct regulation of individual non-bank market segments (such as securitisation, private placements or private equity) might be useful at the margin, but will not per se lead to significant capital markets development or the rebalancing of Europe’s financial system away from the current dominance by banks. To reach these goals, the capital markets union agenda must be broadened to address the framework conditions for the development of individual market segments. Six possible areas for policy initiative are, in increasing order of potential impact and political difficulty: regulation of securities and specific forms of intermediation; prudential regulation, especially of insurance companies and pension funds; regulation of accounting, auditing and financial transparency requirements that apply to companies that seek external finance; a supervisory framework for financial infrastructure firms, such as central counterparties, that supports market integration; partial harmonisation and improvement of insolvency and corporate restructuring frameworks;and partial harmonisation or convergence of tax policies that specifically affect financial investment.

The role of market knowledge in recognizing and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities in technology intensive firms

Entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon. Of particular interest is the ability of promising technology based ventures to recognize and exploit opportunities. Recent research drawing on the Austrian economic theory emphasizes the importance of knowledge, particularly market knowledge, behind opportunity recognition. While insightful, this research has tended to overlook those interrelationships that exist between different types of knowledge (technology and market knowledge) as well as between a firm’s knowledge base and its entrepreneurial orientation. Additional shortfalls of prior research include the ambiguous definitions provided for entrepreneurial opportunities, oversight of opportunity exploitation with an extensive focus on opportunity recognition only, and the lack of quantitative, empirical evidence on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. ^ In this dissertation, these research gaps are addressed by integrating Schumpeterian opportunity development view with a Kirznerian opportunity discovery theory as well as insights from literature on entrepreneurial orientation. A sample of 85 new biotechnology ventures from the United States, Finland, and Sweden was analyzed. While leaders in all 85 companies were interviewed for the research in 2003-2004, 42 firms provided data in 2007. Data was analyzed using regression analysis. ^ The results show the value and importance of early market knowledge and technology knowledge as well as an entrepreneurial company posture for subsequent opportunity recognition. The highest numbers of new opportunities are recognized in firms where high levels of market knowledge are combined with high levels of technology knowledge (measured with a number of patents). A firm’s entrepreneurial orientation also enhances its opportunity recognition. Furthermore, the results show that new ventures with more market knowledge are able to gather more equity investments, license out more technologies, and achieve higher sales than new ventures with lower levels of market knowledge. Overall, the findings of this dissertation help further our understanding of the sources of entrepreneurial opportunities, and should encourage further research in this area. ^

The role of market knowledge in recognizing and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities in technology intensive firms

Entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon. Of particular interest is the ability of promising technology based ventures to recognize and exploit opportunities. Recent research drawing on the Austrian economic theory emphasizes the importance of knowledge, particularly market knowledge, behind opportunity recognition. While insightful, this research has tended to overlook those interrelationships that exist between different types of knowledge (technology and market knowledge) as well as between a firm’s knowledge base and its entrepreneurial orientation. Additional shortfalls of prior research include the ambiguous definitions provided for entrepreneurial opportunities, oversight of opportunity exploitation with an extensive focus on opportunity recognition only, and the lack of quantitative, empirical evidence on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. In this dissertation, these research gaps are addressed by integrating Schumpeterian opportunity development view with a Kirznerian opportunity discovery theory as well as insights from literature on entrepreneurial orientation. A sample of 85 new biotechnology ventures from the United States, Finland, and Sweden was analyzed. While leaders in all 85 companies were interviewed for the research in 2003-2004, 42 firms provided data in 2007. Data was analyzed using regression analysis. The results show the value and importance of early market knowledge and technology knowledge as well as an entrepreneurial company posture for subsequent opportunity recognition. The highest numbers of new opportunities are recognized in firms where high levels of market knowledge are combined with high levels of technology knowledge (measured with a number of patents). A firm’s entrepreneurial orientation also enhances its opportunity recognition. Furthermore, the results show that new ventures with more market knowledge are able to gather more equity investments, license out more technologies, and achieve higher sales than new ventures with lower levels of market knowledge. Overall, the findings of this dissertation help further our understanding of the sources of entrepreneurial opportunities, and should encourage further research in this area.

Equity in the fiscal benefits associated with private health expenditures in Portugal: 2000 - 2010

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

The effects of derivative use on equity fund performance

Investing in mutual funds has become more popular than ever and the amount of money invested in mutual funds registered in Finland has hit its all-time high. Mutual funds provide a relatively low-cost method for private investors to invest in stock market and achieve diversified portfolios. In finance there is always a tradeoff between risk and return, where higher expected returns can usually be achieved only by taking higher risks. Diversifying the portfolio gets rid some of the risk but systematic risk cannot be diversified away. These risks can be managed by hedging the investments with derivatives. The use of derivatives should improve the performance of the portfolios using them compared to the funds that don’t. However, previous studies have shown that the risk exposure and return performance of derivative users does not considerably differ from nonusers. The purpose of this study is to examine how the use of derivatives affects the performance of equity funds. The funds studied were 155 equity funds registered in Finland in 2013. Empirical research was done by studying the derivative use of the funds during a 6-year period between 2008–2013. The performance of the funds was studied quantitatively by using several different performance measures used in mutual fund industry; Sharpe Ratio, Treynor Ratio, Jensen's alpha, Sortino Ratio, M2 and Omega Ratio. The effect of derivative use on funds' performance was studied by using a dummy variable and comparing performance measures of derivative-users and nonusers. The differences in performance measures between the two groups were analyzed with statistical tests. The hypothesis was that funds' derivative use should improve their performance relative to the funds that don't use them. The results of this study are in line with previous studies that state that the use of derivatives does not improve mutual funds' performance. When performance was measured with Jensen's alpha, funds that did not use derivatives performed better than the ones that used them. When measured with other performance measures, the results didn’t differ between two groups.