Call for Papers: Regional Comparative Advantage and Knowledge-based Entrepreneurship

                           CALL FOR PAPERS

                  REGIONAL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE AND
                   KNOWLEDGE BASED ENTREPRENEURSHIP

                       RICAFE2 Third Conference

                         9 & 10 October 2008
               University of Amsterdam Business School
                            Finance Group


      The RICAFE2 Third Conference will be held on 9 & 10 October
      2008 at the University of Amsterdam Business School. The
      organizers invite submissions for empirical and theoretical
      papers on the financing of knowledge-based entrepreneurial
      firms, on the influence of venture capital on firms'
      ability to translate technological advances into successful
      products, and on the contribution of knowledge-based
      entrepreneurship to regional dynamics.


      TOPICS:

      The topics we are planning to discuss include, but are not
      limited to:

      - The choice between alternative sources of financing for
        innovative firms and their impact on strategic decisions
        in entrepreneurial firms;
      - The determinants of knowledge-based entrepreneurship;
      - Venture capital and its contribution to the knowledge-
        based economy and regional development;
      - Economics of intellectual property rights and its
        implications for knowledge-based entrepreneurship;
      - The role and design of financial contracts and of the
        choice of organizational form in fostering knowledge-
        based entrepreneurship;
      - Effects of regulation on venture capital investment and
        entrepreneurial dynamics;
      - The impact of corporate governance mechanisms on the
        performance of entrepreneurial firms.

      The conference proceedings will not be published, as we aim
      to attract papers on their way to publication in high
      quality journals.


      EXPENSES:

      Travel (economy class round-trip) and accommodation
      expenses will be covered for presenters and discussants.


      PROGRAM COMMITTEE:

      Stefan Arping (Univ. Amsterdam), Amar Bhide (Columbia
      Univ.), Bruno Biais (Toulouse Univ.), Patrick Bolton
      (Columbia Univ.), Mariassunta Gianetti (Stockholm Univ.),
      Thomas Hellmann (Univ. British Columbia), Gustavo Manso
      (MIT), William Megginson (Univ. Oklahoma), Eric Nowak
      (Univ. Lugano), Armin Schwienbacher (Univ. Amsterdam; Cath.
      Univ. Louvain; Committee Chair), Alessandro Sembenelli
      (Univ. Torino) and Christoph Zott (Insead).


      PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:

      Deadline for submission of papers: 27 June 2008

      Submissions are accepted online only via the RICAFE2 website:

                     http://www.lse.ac.uk/ricafe

      The authors of selected papers will be informed by the end
      of July.


      FURTHER INFORMATION:

      For more information please contact:

      CONTACT:       Armin Schwienbacher
      Email:         MAILTO:a.schwienbacher@uva.nl

      The Regional Comparative Advantage and Knowledge-Based
      Entrepreneurship (RICAFE2) Research network includes the
      London School of Economics (FMG), the Department of
      Economics and Finance of Turin University, the Center for
      Financial Studies (Frankfurt), HEC School of Management
      (Paris), University of Amsterdam, University of Tilburg,
      Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies,
      University of Lugano, Indian School of Business, Technion
      (Israel), and the Belgrade Laboratory for Quantitative
      Finance. RICAFE2 is funded by the European Commission,
      DG Research, under the 'Citizens and governance in a
      knowledge based society' (FP6) programme, grant
      CIT5-CT-2006-028942.
Posted 4/21/08