Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from Estonia

Purpose – This study aims to analyze the contribution of business angels (BAs), defined as wealthy individuals who provide risk capital to entrepreneurial firms without family connections, in Estonia, an emerging country in Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach – This study compared the data o...

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Main Author: Tetsuya Kirihata
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Emerald Publishing 2022-12-01
Series:Journal of Capital Markets Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JCMS-08-2022-0033/full/pdf
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author Tetsuya Kirihata
author_facet Tetsuya Kirihata
author_sort Tetsuya Kirihata
collection DOAJ
description Purpose – This study aims to analyze the contribution of business angels (BAs), defined as wealthy individuals who provide risk capital to entrepreneurial firms without family connections, in Estonia, an emerging country in Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach – This study compared the data of the financial and non-financial performance of BA-backed firms with that of “twin” non-BA-backed firms, extracted from all Estonian unlisted firms using propensity score matching. Findings – The results of the comparative analysis showed that BAs were patient enough to allow their investees to spend for future growth rather than squeezing profit from increased sales. This is not patience without options for a BA in a situation in which the investee's sales are deteriorating, but rather deliberate patience in the presence of options for a BA where the investee's sales growth is increasing, contrary to conventional investor behavioral principles. It also showed that BAs' post-investment involvement did not make a direct contribution to their investees' sales, although BAs contributed to the sales increase through BA funding itself. Originality/value – This study has two unique research contributions. First, it shows that the patience of BAs was not a by-product but was intentional, and adds to the debate on whether BAs are patient investors. Second, there are only a few studies on the contribution of BAs to their investees in emerging countries; this study aims to help fill this research gap using the case of Estonia.
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spelling doaj.art-48f16b74b1134008bc93c27e0480401e2023-07-03T12:56:42ZengEmerald PublishingJournal of Capital Markets Studies2514-47742022-12-016328730310.1108/JCMS-08-2022-0033Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from EstoniaTetsuya Kirihata0College of Business Administration, Ritsumeikan University – Osaka Ibaraki Campus, Ibaraki, JapanPurpose – This study aims to analyze the contribution of business angels (BAs), defined as wealthy individuals who provide risk capital to entrepreneurial firms without family connections, in Estonia, an emerging country in Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach – This study compared the data of the financial and non-financial performance of BA-backed firms with that of “twin” non-BA-backed firms, extracted from all Estonian unlisted firms using propensity score matching. Findings – The results of the comparative analysis showed that BAs were patient enough to allow their investees to spend for future growth rather than squeezing profit from increased sales. This is not patience without options for a BA in a situation in which the investee's sales are deteriorating, but rather deliberate patience in the presence of options for a BA where the investee's sales growth is increasing, contrary to conventional investor behavioral principles. It also showed that BAs' post-investment involvement did not make a direct contribution to their investees' sales, although BAs contributed to the sales increase through BA funding itself. Originality/value – This study has two unique research contributions. First, it shows that the patience of BAs was not a by-product but was intentional, and adds to the debate on whether BAs are patient investors. Second, there are only a few studies on the contribution of BAs to their investees in emerging countries; this study aims to help fill this research gap using the case of Estonia.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JCMS-08-2022-0033/full/pdfBusiness angelsRisk capitalComparative analysisPropensity score matchingEstoniaEmerging countries
spellingShingle Tetsuya Kirihata
Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from Estonia
Journal of Capital Markets Studies
Business angels
Risk capital
Comparative analysis
Propensity score matching
Estonia
Emerging countries
title Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from Estonia
title_full Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from Estonia
title_fullStr Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from Estonia
title_full_unstemmed Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from Estonia
title_short Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from Estonia
title_sort contribution of business angel investments evidence from estonia
topic Business angels
Risk capital
Comparative analysis
Propensity score matching
Estonia
Emerging countries
url https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JCMS-08-2022-0033/full/pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT tetsuyakirihata contributionofbusinessangelinvestmentsevidencefromestonia