Thomas William Aspinall, Adrian Gepp, Geoff Harris, Simone Kelly, Colette Southam and Bruce Vanstone
The pitching research template (PRT) is designed to help pitchers identify the core elements that form the framework of any research project. This paper aims to provide a brief…
Abstract
Purpose
The pitching research template (PRT) is designed to help pitchers identify the core elements that form the framework of any research project. This paper aims to provide a brief commentary on an application of the PRT to pitch an environmental finance research topic with a personal reflection on the pitch exercise discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies the PRT developed by Faff (2015, 2019) to a research project on estimating the strength of carbon pricing signals under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme.
Findings
The PRT is found to be a valuable tool to refine broad ideas into impactful and novel research contributions. The PRT is recommended for use by all academics regardless of field and particularly PhD students to structure and communicate their research ideas. The PRT is found to be particularly well suited to pitch replication studies, as it effectively summarizes both the “idea” and proposed “twist” of a replication study.
Originality/value
This letter is a reflection on a research teams experience with applying the PRT to pitch a replication study at the 2020 Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand event. This event focused on replicable research and was a unique opportunity for research teams to pitch their replication research ideas.
Details
Keywords
Bruce Dwyer, Keith Duncan and Colette Southam
This paper aims to bridge the gap between theoretical dissertations on the demand and supply for equity by Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the reality of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to bridge the gap between theoretical dissertations on the demand and supply for equity by Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the reality of the capital raising markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The mixed-methods approach includes questions integrated into a survey of 26,000 SMEs paired with semi-structured interviews with the CEOs or Chairs of the 15 Australian small-scale private equity (SSPE) firms.
Findings
Contrary to capital structure theory expectations, 46 per cent of Australian SMEs are interested in equity funding, despite a stated ability to acquire additional debt. The authors reveal a mismatch between supply and demand for SSPE with few SMEs able to meet private equity (PE) firms’ stringent investment criteria.
Research limitations/implications
The population of Australian SSPE firms is small and interviewee responses are qualitative and are not easily replicated.
Practical implications
To improve SSPE market liquidity, SMEs must overcome severe information asymmetry to demonstrate their quality and reduce the cost of due diligence for PE firms. One relatively easy step is for SMEs to voluntarily adopt auditable financial controls on SMEs similar to publicly traded firms.
Originality/value
Few studies focus on small firm equity, which is essential to economic growth and innovation. The authors use a large data set of Australian SMEs and unique informationally rich interview data on the population of Australian firms in SSPE, an industry known for its lack of transparency.