Building on the strategic entrepreneurship perspective, we examine the importance of private equity (PE) sociodemographic diversity and talent for the success of the acquisitive growth strategy. We focus on the individual (and buyout) rather than the collective PE firm (and fund) level of human capital.
The results of our panel data, survival models suggest that gender and age diversity, as well as the financial background, of the PE professionals, significantly accelerate add-on acquisitions. The results are robust to alternative diversity measures, PE firm characteristics and endogeneity checks.
Ranko is Professor of Finance and Head of Business Finance (BF) research group at University of Sussex Business School.
His research interests include corporate and SME finance, private equity, bond markets, insider trading, and financial inclusion.
He has published over fifty academic papers and contributions to research monographs and is consistently ranked among top 10% authors on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). His Google Scholar i10 and h-index are 27 and 20, respectively. Ranko's work has been commented on and referenced in the Financial Times and other media outlets. He received research grants from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Institute for Quantitative Investment Research (INQUIRE), Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), African Development Bank (ADB), etc.
Ranko has teaching at programmes in UK (LSE, Hull, Birmingham), Europe (EDHEC-Lille & Nice, Belgrade), Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia) and Africa (Mauritius). He held various academic positions (e.g. School Director of Research, Head of Department, Convenor of PhD programmes, etc.) and served as external examiner on programmes delivered by universities (Imperial, Manchester, LSE, Cranfield) and professional bodies (ACCA). Ranko was elected board member of European Financial Management Association and has served as an associated editor of the European Journal of Finance since 2017.
The seminar will be held in English.
Major information: Andi Duqi (andi.duqi@unibo.it).