Premium
Private equity: A review and synthesis
Author(s) -
Wood Geoffrey,
Wright Mike
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of management reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.475
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-2370
pISSN - 1460-8545
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00264.x
Subject(s) - private equity , private equity firm , venture capital , equity capital markets , club deal , private equity secondary market , equity (law) , private equity fund , economics , phenomenon , investment (military) , business , empirical research , public economics , finance , political science , physics , quantum mechanics , politics , law , philosophy , epistemology
The recent international surge in private equity markets has been accompanied by growing interest in its nature and effects. Private equity involves investment in unquoted companies and includes both early stage venture capital and later stage buyouts. The latter, which have been particularly controversial, are our focus. This paper provides a review of the different theoretical approaches that have been deployed to understand this phenomenon. Thereafter, the findings of a large cross section of empirical studies within a range of different national settings are compared and contrasted. Finally, existing themes emerging from – and gaps in – the existing literature and likely future directions are summarized.