CFP: VICO final conference - Stresa, Italy

[entrepreneurship-phd at lists.uni-due.de]

CALL FOR PAPERS
VICO final conference
Entrepreneurial finance: the real impact
Politecnico di Milano 
Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering 
29 June - 1 July 2011
www.vicoconference.polimi.it
   
Politecnico di Milano and the other European Universities involved in VICO project, financed by EU in the FP7 program, are issuing a call for original research papers to be presented at the VICO final conference on the real impact of Entrepreneurial finance. The conference will be held in Italy, at the Politecnico di Milano and in Stresa, from June 29th, 2011 to July 1st, 2011. 
Entrepreneurial firms play a crucial role in modern advanced economies as important engines of economic development, and often represent the main vehicle for innovative breakthroughs in economic systems. 

One of the fundamental components, in the process of developing smart business ideas into profitable and prosperous economic activities, is clearly the availability of finance. Entrepreneurial ventures usually face severe difficulties in accessing financial markets. Such problems are magnified in high-tech sectors, and have been exacerbated by the current global crisis.
In spite of the increasing interest that entrepreneurial finance is attracting among scholars in entrepreneurship, finance, economics, and management, our knowledge of its ?real? impact on the performance of firms is largely incomplete, in terms of investments, innovation and growth. This applies especially to European economies. For example, in Europe there is large heterogeneity among investors involved in financing entrepreneurial ventures. Yet, the performance of this sector of the European economy has lagged behind that of the United States and Asian counterparts. 

This conference aims towards broadening our understanding of the contribution of early stage financing obtained from different sources, to the creation, development and success of entrepreneurial ventures. In particular, we aim to collect and discuss theoretical and empirical studies on the relationship between the type of finance (i.e equity capital, debt, mezzanine, etc.) received by entrepreneurial ventures from different types of investors (i.e. domestic and international independent venture capital (VC) investors, corporate and bank controlled VC investors, Governmental VC investors, university seed funds, business angels, banks, etc.) and the performance of these firms in terms of investments, innovation, productivity, sales, and employment growth. Moreover, the relationship between fund providers and VC, and between VC and entrepreneurial ventures, may influence the ?real? impact of VC investments on the performance of investee firms. Hence emphasis will be placed on the role played by the ownership structure and corporate governance in both VC organisations and entrepreneurial firms. Furthermore, there will be considerable focus on the role played by governments to solve inefficiency in the financing of entrepreneurial ventures, and their interaction with private finance. Finally, changes triggered by the global crisis will receive special consideration.

Submission of contributions is encouraged from both junior and senior scholars interested in the following themes:
THEME A. The real impact of VC financing: the role of investor heterogeneity
THEME B. Ownership structure and corporate governance in entrepreneurial ventures
THEME C. Private and public entrepreneurial finance: which role is suited to public policy? 

For further information, visit www.vicoconference.polimi.it
 
Timeline 
Paper submission: by 1st April 2011
Notice for paper acceptance: by 30th April 2011
Conference registration: by 15th May 2011