Improving the external financing in independent high-tech SMEs: Does the foreign ownership matter?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of foreign venture capital (VC)/private equity (PE) ownership and other types of foreign investors on the access to external finance, in terms of credit provision, by the independent high-tech small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the European context. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology is based on the analysis of a panel sample consisting of 1,138 firms from 23 European Union countries for the period 2006-2015. To statistically test the two defined research hypotheses, a panel model was run using 2SLS estimation. Findings The findings show that foreign ownership has a positive but partial role in improving the availability of external funding for independent high-tech SMEs. Foreign VC/PE ownership seems to facilitate the global accessibility of external financing but not the access to bank lending; on the contrary, other forms of foreign ownership (excluding VC/PE) seem to increase only the access to bank lending. Practical implications In order to open their businesses to a global spectrum of investment opportunities and increase the potentials of full development, small independent entrepreneurs should become attentive to the role of foreign investors. Further, policy actions need to stimulate an international vision of the way of doing business among the entrepreneurial contexts of high-tech SMEs. Originality/value The research fills a literature gap on the role of foreign ownership in mitigating the financing limitations of independent high-tech SMEs. Additionally, as independent high-tech SMEs differ from non-independent firms, the financing constraints and information asymmetry faced by independent firms are critical and pivotal to explore.