Anne-laure Le Nadant - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Anne-laure Le Nadant

Agency theory has historically presented buyouts as a superior governance framework that generate... more Agency theory has historically presented buyouts as a superior governance framework that generates economic efficiencies in the short term but these transactions might have a negative impact on long-term growth and innovation. In this study, we use a strategic entrepreneurship perspective to argue that private equity firm's extensive network and relationships, and expertise and competencies help managers to innovate. Using

Cet article se propose d'analyser les objectifs sous-jacents à la gestion des résultats sans ... more Cet article se propose d'analyser les objectifs sous-jacents à la gestion des résultats sans restreindre cette dernière à la gestion comptable des résultats : minimisation, maximisation ou lissage des résultats. La gestion des résultats est particulièrement observée lors des opérations financières de l'entreprise : introduction en bourse, augmentation de capital. Des études récentes ont mis en évidence des comportements visant

L’objectif de cet article est de proposer une taxonomie mettant en évidence les différentes confi... more L’objectif de cet article est de proposer une taxonomie mettant en évidence les différentes configurations des réseaux de franchise en fonction de leur orientation entrepreneuriale. Pour ce faire, une double classification hiérarchique et non hiérarchique a été menée sur une base de données empiriques collectées auprès de 99 réseaux de franchiseurs opérant en France. En analysant leur orientation entrepreneuriale—qui peut favoriser l'émergence et la diffusion des innovations dans le réseau et par ricochet améliorer leur performance globale—la taxonomie induite fait ressortir quatre configurations distinctes. Chacune de ces configurations est représentée par un profil spécifique de franchiseur dénommé : les avant-gardistes, les protecteurs, les inventeurs et les optimisateurs. Les résultats montrent que la performance des réseaux de franchise adoptant une posture entrepreneuriale—le cas des avant-gardistes et des optimisateurs—est en croissance. Ceux ayant adopté une posture cons...

Using Community Innovation Survey data from France, we provide an empirical analysis of the innov... more Using Community Innovation Survey data from France, we provide an empirical analysis of the innovative efforts of a sample of manufacturing firms that underwent a leveraged buyout. We find no evidence that LBOs have a negative effect on firm level of innovation expenditure. In contrast, results suggest that buyouts have a positive effect on incremental innovation and that private equity firms help to make innovation spending more effective and even more efficient. It could be that private equity firms help the company to focus on its core innovative capabilities and bring innovative products to the market without increasing innovation spending.

A long-standing controversy is whether LBOs generate economic efficiencies through a superior gov... more A long-standing controversy is whether LBOs generate economic efficiencies through a superior governance framework, or whether LBO funds are driven by short-term profit motives and sacrifice long-term growth to boost short-term performance. Using a propensity score methodology, this paper provides an empirical analysis of the innovative efforts of a sample of 89 French manufacturing firms that underwent a buyout between 2001 and 2005. The matching estimates (average treatment on the treated, ATT) of the effect of LBOs on firm level of innovation expenditures in 2006 show no significant differences between LBO targets and comparable companies that did not go through an LBO. In contrast, we find significant effects of LBOs on both service innovation and marketing innovations in design and packaging and product promotion.

Économies et sociétés

This article aims to enrich the explanatory framework of franchising through the critical resourc... more This article aims to enrich the explanatory framework of franchising through the critical resources theory. In this framework, the importance of human assets appears to be essential in the explanation of the governance and the networks franchised versus company owned unit choices. Propositions are derived where the fit between the resources’ characteristics and the governance system explains the network performance.

Contributions to Management Science, 2010

This paper deals with the relationships between plural form and performance in franchising networ... more This paper deals with the relationships between plural form and performance in franchising networks in Europe. It is proposed that a franchisor"s life cycle stage and human capital assets influence the relationship between plural form and performance. The model has been estimated using panel data on 41 publicly listed European franchising networks in the 1998-2007 period. The proportion of network-franchised units to the total number of its units in its distribution system is used as the indicator of its plural form (franchise proportion). Following an instrumental approach, the network performance is measured at the franchisor level by its industry-adjusted Return on Assets (ROA) and a relative stock market valuation measure of intangible human capital is used. The early results show that the impact of franchise proportion on performance is greater for franchisors with high intangible human capital compared to franchisors with low intangible human capital. Overall, results provide support for the contention that the franchisors" performance is contingent on the "fit" between governance structure (franchise proportion) and resources (critical human assets). In contrast, strong evidence that the governance/performance relationship is contingent on life cycle stage or franchisor"s age is not found. But, our results suggest that franchisor"s age could weaken the relationship between franchise proportion and performance. These results might suggest that younger franchisors with high human capital should increase their franchise proportion to enhance their financial performance. Acknowledgement: The authors thank the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Agency for Research) for financial support (n°ANR-08-BLAN-0020-01).

We study transfers of ownership rights, completed between 1996 and 2004, in five major European c... more We study transfers of ownership rights, completed between 1996 and 2004, in five major European countries. We use the traditional literature on corporate governance systems to identify expected groups of countries. Results from the supervised cluster analysis show significant dissimilarities between deals according to the target country. These dissimilarities correspond to the traditional classification of corporate governance systems. An exception is Spain. We show dissimilarities between two groups of countries. There are, on the one hand, deals concerning French, German and, to a lesser extent, Italian targets, and, on the other hand, deals concerning British and Spanish targets. This result reflects recent studies, which stress the new situation of the Spanish corporate governance system which now follows British practice more closely.

ABSTRACT We study innovation and R&D investments made from 2008 to 2010 by UK companies t... more ABSTRACT We study innovation and R&D investments made from 2008 to 2010 by UK companies that were the targets of leveraged buyout (LBO) in previous years. We find that overall, LBO companies do not exhibit lower innovation and R&D investments than non-LBO companies during the crisis, with other things being equal. However, innovation and R&D investments decline substantially in LBO companies that were financially constrained before the deal. We argue that in unfavorable market conditions, LBOs tend to exacerbate the issues related to investments in innovation in firms facing financial constraints.

Managerial and Decision Economics, 2014

ABSTRACT When establishing a new business, entrepreneurs can decide to join a network of independ... more ABSTRACT When establishing a new business, entrepreneurs can decide to join a network of independent business-partners rather than choose the alternative of independent business ownership. In this study, we use a probit model on a large database to study the human, social and financial capital of French entrepreneurs who join franchising and comparable forms of networks. Results confirm that initial levels of human and social capital are significant determinants of network membership. We also show that an increase in the proportion of the project financed by debt increases the probability of joining a network.

Studies in Classification, Data Analysis, and Knowledge Organization, 2010

We investigate whether the characteristics of Leveraged Buy-Out (LBO) targets before the deal dif... more We investigate whether the characteristics of Leveraged Buy-Out (LBO) targets before the deal differ from those of targets that have undergone another type of transfer of shares. Specifically, we examine the size, value, industry, quotation and profitability of French targets involved in transfers of shares between 1996 and 2004. Using two different methods (a classical logit regression and a mixed

The Entrepreneurial Society, 2010

This article deals with the role of private equity in the financing of transfers of shares in fiv... more This article deals with the role of private equity in the financing of transfers of shares in five European countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. These countries have been chosen because their corporate governance systems still remain different in spite of the process of European integration. We first identify the expected effects of the main characteristics of national financial and legal systems on the activity of private equity funds. Second, we use a sample of deals collected from the Zephyr database to investigate the similarities (and dissimilarities) between European countries in the role played by private equity in transfers of shares. Our results show that the French case is very specific and opposite to the British case. In France, private equity funds play a more important role in the financing of transfers of shares than in other countries. This result supports the thesis of a specific French corporate governance model and leads us to refute the hypothesis of the convergence towards the Anglo-American model for the French corporate governance system. , « Monnaie et inflation dans une économie d'endettement", Revue d'économie politique, n°1, février.

Review of Accounting and Finance, 2006

This paper investigates whether firms, which are taken over on the French market through Leverage... more This paper investigates whether firms, which are taken over on the French market through Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), possess characteristics prior to the change which differentiate them from firms which are not acquired through LBOs.

Managerial and Decision Economics, 2013

ABSTRACT This article examines the impact of human capital intangibles on the governance structur... more ABSTRACT This article examines the impact of human capital intangibles on the governance structure of franchise networks (i.e., proportion of franchised outlets) and the joint impact of human capital intangibles and governance on the performance of franchisors. Agency theory focuses on the free-riding hazard and the costs associated with franchising in the context of high human capital intangibles. The critical resources theory highlights the weakness of company ownership and the advantages of using franchising in this context. Tests of the hypotheses derived from these theoretical frameworks indicate that these complementarily explain the governance structure and financial performance of franchise networks.

Strategic Change, 2014

ABSTRACT Leveraged buyout (LBO) target companies are more innovative than non-LBO ones with a sim... more ABSTRACT Leveraged buyout (LBO) target companies are more innovative than non-LBO ones with a similar level of innovation expenditures, which suggests ambidextrous innovation practices.