Eric Braune

Abstract

This paper investigates the degree to which incumbent information technology (IT) companies efficiently capture information from venture capital (VC) networks. It focuses particularly on the extent to which intangible or financial resources increase the number of relationships with venture capitalists and influence the central position of IT companies within VC networks. Generalized-method-of-moments (GMM) methodology is used herein to analyze the revision of decision-making processes concerning corporate venture capital (CVC) investments conducted by IT companies. To date, the sample used in this study is the first to exclusively focus on CVC investment decisions following the burst of the IT bubble in 2001. The CVC practices of 184 IT companies over the period between 2004 and 2016 are studied, revealing that the R&D investments made by these companies, along with the amount of CVC investments made, strongly impact the number of relationships they forge and maintain and the centrality of their position in VC networks.

Abstract

We propose to explore the research question of whether managers use available non-committed financial resources at their discretion to respond to stakeholder pressure. To address this question, we investigate the relationship between the corporate social performance (CSP) of industrial companies listed on Standard & Poor's 500 and the financial resources (financial slack) at the discretion of their managers. We find that managers can use financial slack to extend and intensify the CSP of their companies. In terms of types of CSP, these resources are not allocated to reduce the impacts of their companies’ activities on the environment. They are rather oriented toward addressing social issues and social conditions. Moreover, we find that management decisions concerning the allocation of slack resources toward an increase in CSP vary according to a company's risk profile.

This article analyzes the reasons for the disclosure of information on intangible capital (DIIC) and its conséquences on financial performance. To this end, we take a structural approach based on the PLS - PM method for a sample of industrial companies listed in the EuroStoxx 600 index. Our results first of all highlight the significant influences of governance and financial structure on the disclosure of information about the intangible capital. Notably we show that the main determinant of the DIIC is corporate governance. Then, we reveal that DIIC practices increase the financial performance of firms, with a greater impact on the market performance than on accounting performance. Finally, we identify a double impact, direct and indirect (through the DIIC), of corporate governance on financial performance, while the literature merely highlights only the direct link between these two factors.

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between environmental performance and the systematic risk of companies.
We find that the synthetic global index of environmental performance negatively affects the risk of the company. The decomposition of this global index into three sub-indices shows that the sub-indices related to the reduction of environmental emissions and the reduction of resource usage make it possible to significantly reduce systemic risk, whereas the sub-index related to product innovation has a rather moderate effect. Thus, environmental performance, just like governance can be considered as an insurance mechanism for the company which reduces the probability of occurrence of events which negatively affect its cash-flow and the risk faced by investors.

Les décisions de dépenses liées à la constitution d'actifs intangibles représentent un cas extrême d’asymétrie informationnelle entre actionnaires et dirigeants. Au travers d'un échantillon de 156 ETI innovantes européennes nous montrons les effets d'une bonne gouvernance sur le montant des dépenses de R&D.

Based on the interviews of 18 Cameroonian entrepreneurs, we study how the entrepreneur's locus of control and motivations influence their perception of bank loans. Also, we evaluate the mediating roles of the managerial team and the entrepreneur's social network in this relation. Our results are manifold. First, we show that venture creation was not the initial professional choice of most of the entrepreneurs in our sample. Then, we distinguish three classes of entrepreneurs according to their professionalisation process. Finally, we shed light on the relationships between entrepreneurs' motivational trajectories and their acceptance to meet bank requirements.

La manière dont la volatilité des cash-flow affecte la valeur des entreprises suscite un intérêt considérable de la part des chercheurs. Toutefois les études empiriques présentent des résultats contrastés. A partir d’un échantillon d’entreprises non financières du SBF250, nous examinons tout d’abord l'effet net global de la volatilité de cash-flow sur le Q de Tobin de l’entreprise. Ensuite nous affinons ce premier résultat en distinguant les entreprises recourant à des instruments de couverture, réduisant la volatilité des cash-flow, des autres entreprises. Enfin, une approche en termes d'options réelles nous permet de distinguer les entreprises suivant le degré d'irréversibilité de de leurs investissements.

SMEs carry the economic development hopes of sub-Saharan African countries. However, the survival and growth of these SMEs are constrained by their difficulty in accessing bank credit. Conscious of this problem, the authorities of these countries are trying to acquire regulatory, institutional or normative tools intended to solve this problem. However, the relevance of such tools hold to their application by the leaders of sub-Saharan SMEs and test, through a sample of Central African SMEs, the subjective assessment of the SME managers of the causal link between the economic risks, the quality of the governance or information transmitted to the lender on the one hand and on the other the granting of credit.

This article examines the relationship between the social performance of companies and their financial performance, analyzed from the systematic risk perspective. The analysis is divided into two parts. We first investigate the relationship between the social performance of companies and their systematic risk. We then look at the link between social performance and the performance of the securities of the company. The empirical results show a negative relationship between social performance and systematic risk, resulting in a higher profitability of securities of high social performance in times of instability and depression in financial markets. The implementation of social responsibility strategies can therefore be regarded as insurance to limit sensitivity to systematic risk and preserve the value of the shareholders against the adverse effects of a crisis or bad economic conditions.

Les effets de la gouvernance sur la performance financière des entreprises font l’objet d’une littérature abondante. Toutefois les études menées présentent des résultats mitigés. De plus, les impacts relatifs des différents mécanismes de gouvernance sur la volatilité de la rentabilité financière des entreprises ont été très peu explorés. Les réformes législatives menées dans la plupart des pays industrialisés à la suite de la crise financière de 2007 visent à réduire la vulnérabilité des entreprises vis-à-vis des risques par de meilleures pratiques de gouvernance. Or les relations entre gouvernance et risque d’entreprise, telles qu’elles sont posées en hypothèse par les législateurs, ne semblent pas avoir fait l’objet d’une vérification empirique approfondie (Bromiley et al., 2015). Cet article a donc pour objet d’analyser le lien entre les pratiques de bonne gouvernance et le risque sur un échantillon de 355 entreprises européennes, pour la période 2002-2015. Nos résultats montrent que la gouvernance dans son ensemble, mesurée par un indice composite, impacte peu le risque systématique de l’entreprise. En revanche, la décomposition de cet indice en cinq variables aboutit à des résultats plus significatifs. Notre étude indique que l’engagement de la direction vis-à-vis des actionnaires, et l’efficacité du conseil d’administration dans l’exercice de ses missions de contrôle sont susceptibles de diminuer, bien que de façon limitée, le risque supporté par l’entreprise. Nous montrons que la poursuite du seul intérêt des actionnaires ne peut suffire à réduire significativement le risque systématique de l’entreprise. Cet objectif nécessite d’ouvrir la gouvernance à d’autres préoccupations afin d’atteindre une plus grande satisfaction des autres parties prenantes.

En s’appuyant sur une étude empirique portant sur 4538 PME non agricoles au Cameroun, cette étude propose d’élargir la connaissance des effets du capital social dans le contexte de l’Afrique Subsaharienne (ASS), et suggère de tester l’effet du capital social de l’entrepreneur sur la pérennité de la PME. Cet article ambitionne en outre de montrer que les UPI peuvent constituer des réseaux structurés et bénéfiques à l’instar de leur homologue de grande taille (Inkpen & Tsang, 2005).

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the mechanisms of corporate governance on the volatility of companies’ financial profitability.

Based on data from 7,350 Cameroonian companies created between 1990 and 2008, we study the link between the characteristics of indebtedness for young companies during their creation and survival period of up to three years, from three to five years, and beyond five years. We complement our quantitative analysis with semi-directive interviews of Cameroonian entrepreneurs to deepen our study. Our results are manifold. We show that access to bank loans during the creation phase, as well as the volume of loans or, to some extent, the debt ratio improve the probability of survival during the early years, but this effect fades away rapidly. The interviews shed light on the motivations of entrepreneurs, particularly of those with very small businesses. Finally, our work reveals the antecedent role of their social capital that facilitates their access to bank loans, and, therefore, the probability of company survival.

Using data on corporate venture capital (CVC) investments by 284 US industrial companies between 2001 and 2013, we analyze the CVC expenditures of each based on their prior position in the syndication network and their financial resources. The generalized-method-of-moments models used show that the annual amount of CVC expenditures of these companies depends on the prior number of co-financing relations they have and their cash flows in the previous year, as well as their prior investments. However, the previous centrality of the industrial companies in syndication networks is insignificant, meaning that prior centrality in the VC network does not guide their current CVC expenditures. This result goes against social network theory, which stipulates that the network members strive to improve their centrality in the network they belong.

Abstract

Using an asymmetric dynamic conditional correlations (ADCC) generalised auto-regressive conditional heteroskedacity (GARCH) framework, the present study explores the possible contagion effects between financial and the fine wines markets during the period of 2003 to 2014. Our results are manifold. Firstly, we demonstrate that the different wine indices are not affected in the same way by financial market volatility. Secondly, it seems that the choice of the financial index selected strongly influences the identification of the contagion effects. Thirdly, we emphasise a proximity or regional effect mediating the contagion transmission of financial market volatility to fine wines indices. Finally, our study reinforces the possible alternative asset nature of fine wines.

Abstract

This article analyses the evolution of independent members of French independent competitiveness clusters. It compares small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that participated in collaborative research projects, funded by French competitiveness clusters, against similar control companies that were not part of such projects and not funded by the policy, over the period 2005–2013. French competitiveness clusters seek to enhance SMEs’ size, performance, innovation and employment; the current study therefore assesses their outcomes in terms of capital invested and equity returns. The findings from a difference-in-differences analysis reveal that sales, employment, R&D investments, and value added all increase in relative terms, but financial returns exhibit significant relative decreases for the smallest companies, whereas larger firms record strong increases. The inability of the smallest SMEs to reap gains from their cluster membership should be a matter of great concern to both companies and policy-makers.