1,720,995 research outputs found
The Dark Side of Divestiture: An Analysis of Principal-Principal Conflicts in Western European Countries
Get PDFThe effect of uncertainty correlation and resource fungibility on the valuation of a portfolio of external exploration activities
No full textThe real options theory and the diversification approach to strategic investments represent two important ways of thinking about how firms cope with uncertainty. Yet, these two lines of reasoning have developed independently of each other and the literature has missed interesting opportunities for cross-fertilization between them. This dissertation incorporates the diversification view into the real options approach in order to assess the value of a portfolio of related strategic investments. The study is built upon the observation that firms often simultaneously invest in multiple options, and develops a model of the interaction among such multiple investments within a single firm. In particular, this dissertation seeks to understand how the presence of uncertainty correlation between these investments and fungible resources between the investing firm and its investments affect the value of a portfolio of strategic options. By introducing these two effects the study shows the conditions under which the value of the portfolio can be lower or higher than the value that results from the linear combination of each individual option. The portfolio of real options approach is tested on a sample of 549 equity agreements, acquisitions, divestitures, and buyouts between pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology labs from 1989 to 1999. A binary logit model was specified for analyzing the entry mode decisions; a negative binomial regression model was specified for analyzing size decisions; and a hazard rate model was specified for analyzing termination decisions. The results strongly support the advantage of using a portfolio of real options model over the single option models previously proposed in the literature and provide support for the two different effects that mediate uncertainty—uncertainty correlation and resource fungibility. Consequently, this study extends the conceptual base of real option analysis within strategic management by carefully specifying and empirically testing a more complete option model. In doing so, it improves upon previous real options valuation models and enhances the possibilities for understanding how firms diversify in highly uncertain environment
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Investing in turbulent environments: Implications for strategy and governance
No full textThis dissertation is comprised of three essays that seek to enlighten the conditions that determine whether investments with highly variable potential payoffs serve as legitimate strategic investments or manifestations of agency problems. The first essay focuses on organizational slack, which may be beneficial to firms attempting to be innovators, but harmful to firms with agency problems. It is argued that exogenous industry uncertainty will magnify both the positive and negative manifestations of slack. Empirical tests confirm that slack is a critical moderator of both investment behavior and firm value for firms attempting to be innovators, and that uncertainty magnifies the value of slack. However, results regarding the potential agency costs of slack did not generally support the hypotheses. The second essay focuses on growth options, which can be an important factor in influencing investment decisions. It is argued that growth options will be most valuable to firms competing on the basis of innovation, and to firms already operating in related industries. However, since it is very difficult to precisely calculate the value of real options, it will be difficult for outsiders to evaluate the wisdom of investments in growth options. Thus, although investments in growth options can potentially have great strategic value, they may also serve as convenient vehicles for over-investment in firms with agency problems. Empirical tests confirm that these firm level characteristics influence not only the probability of investing in growth options, but also the market\u27s reaction to those investments. The third essay argues that growth options will dissuade firms from exiting industries in which they compete. Consistent with the second essay, it is argued that growth options will be more valuable to firms competing on the basis of innovation, and hence these firms will be less inclined to exit an industry with valuable growth options. However, in firms prone to agency problems, managers can easily exaggerate the value of growth options in order to justify remaining in an industry even when exit is warranted. Empirical tests confirm that both of these types of firms are more sensitive to the dissuasive influence of growth options on exit
Entry thresholds in the entrepreneurial process
No full textThe first essay builds upon economic theories of entrepreneurship that view the decision to engage in entrepreneurship as a career choice and contends that entry into the entrepreneurial process only occurs when expected performance exceeds an unobserved, individual-specific entry threshold. Using a sample drawn from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, I theoretically extend the threshold perspective and apply an empirical approach new to the entrepreneurial entry literature to investigate the determinants of the choice to initially pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity. Prior work focusing on factors associated with the likelihood of entry can only indicate when expected performance exceeds the threshold (and what factors are associated with this condition). In contrast, by estimating the impact of human capital, financial capital, and motivations on both expected performance and the unobserved threshold, this research better indicates why thresholds are exceeded and entry occurs. The second essay investigates how the determinants of threshold-based decision making change during the evaluation stage of the entrepreneurial process. In contrast to much of the prior literature that views the decision to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity as a one-time dichotomous choice, I contend that both performance expectations and perceptions of uncertainty, two key constituent elements of the decision, are likely to be revised as entrepreneurs investigate entrepreneurial opportunities. As such, this research provides a broader view of the evaluation stage of the entrepreneurial process, arguing that it consists of more than just the gathering of resources by fully committed entrepreneurs. Using the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, a nationally representative dataset of US adults working to start new businesses, I demonstrate that entrepreneurs\u27 expectations of financial performance and perceptions of environmental uncertainty undergo significant changes as they work to establish their new ventures, consistent with a learning view of the process. The degree of these changes is influenced by entrepreneurs\u27 information gathering activities. I find little evidence, however, that the main effect of information gathering activities is moderated by either ex ante novelty/uncertainty or the prior knowledge of the entrepreneur. The final essay examines the role of thresholds in the decision to exploit an entrepreneurial opportunity by launching a new venture. Applying the threshold model only to the initial entry decision leaves us with an incomplete picture of how threshold-based decision making affects the decision to engage in entrepreneurship. It is an empirical fact that not all of those who initially identify an opportunity will eventually launch a business. Some will achieve launch, others will give up on the opportunity, and some will remain stuck in the process. Thus, to more fully understand the determinants of entrepreneurial behavior, we need to examine both the determinants of initial entry as well as the determinants of launch. Using a sample drawn from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics II, I theoretically extend the threshold perspective and investigate the determinants of the choice of whether to exploit an entrepreneurial opportunity through the launch of a new venture. In contrast to approaches that relate potential determinants to the likelihood of launch, use of the threshold model provides a better understanding of why those determinants might have a relationship to launch probability. I examine how objective measures of opportunity risk, gestation tasks completed, and entrepreneurial motivations influence expected entrepreneurial performance and launch thresholds
Role of private equity investment in technology start-ups
No full textA central theme in entrepreneurial finance deals with the challenges imposed by the information asymmetry and technology uncertainty and how private equity investors alleviate information imperfections to facilitate entrepreneurial innovation and growth. The present thesis centered on the private equity industry offers three complementary essays interrelated issues that are under explored relating to managerial processes in the private equity industry. The first essay analyzes herd behavior in investment decisions made under uncertainty. Motivated by the real world context of private equity investments, the essay presents a theoretical model of sequential decision making to understand whether the true causality of herd behavior. Is herd behavior always Bayesian rational or does non-Bayesian conformance behavior equally promote herd effect. The theoretical prediction of the model is tested in a laboratory experiment. The experiment results are in line with the theory in most cases. Nevertheless, in modest number of observations decisions are non-Bayesian where subjects undermine private information and conform to the public information. Interestingly the intensity of non-Bayesian decisions becomes stronger when the distribution of heterogeneous rational agents is not uniform. The essay presents a stylized model to explain the shift in the rate of non-Bayesian herd behavior. The second essay examine whether venture capitalists\u27 positive impact on venture innovation declines over the finite life span of the private equity funds. The essay employs a two-arm bandit model to analyze the investment tradeoff between exploration of uncertain innovation that may generate higher innovation outcome and exploitation of known innovation. The empirical analysis based on VC-backed biotechnology ventures founded between 1985 and 2004 reveal a significant shift in the VC impact on innovation outcome of the portfolio ventures as the fund approaches its maturity. The third essay examines the possible influence of private equity investments, in particular angel groups and venture capital investments, in shaping the innovation outcome of technology ventures and in realizing successful exits. The essay considers the theoretical and empirical implications of angel group investment and VC investment and teases apart the separate influences of angels and VCs towards ventures\u27 innovation strategy and successful exit. Empirical analysis conducted on a novel dataset of 350 technology ventures reveals striking insights about the relative contribution of each. The methodologies employed econometrically control for identification issues in the dynamic multi-stage nature of external capital financing
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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