Does the Alternative Investment Market nurture firm growth ? A comparison between listed and private companies
Résumé
The creation of stock market segments with low admission requirements was welcomed in the 1990s as an essential move to release small- and medium-sized enterprises from their dependency on banks for external funding, thereby removing the financial barriers that hinder their growth and competitiveness. But does easier access to public equity really translate into superior real performance? We explore this issue by focusing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), a "junior" segment of the London Stock Exchange that has experienced long-lasting growth in capitalization. (...)