Research in Entrepreneurial Finance

Catalog description

This course explores academic research covering the formation, financing, growth, and outcomes of entrepreneurial firms. These firms differ from those traditionally studied in finance and economics. Such differences include ownership structure (private vs. public), size, severity of financing constraints, and the role of financial intermediaries. This course aims to understand the sources and implications of these differences. The course will not follow the traditional approach that emphasizes literature reviews. Much like one must understand how bank balance sheets work before embarking on banking paper or how mutual fund disclosures are regulated before studying ETFs, successful entrepreneurial finance researchers are required to understand a host of rules, norms, and other institutional details. Thus, the majority of lectures will focus on the background material behind the literature’s major results, such as regulations, data sources, actor norms, and industry trends.