The sample frames of the content analysis

The subsequent clarifications are based on the basic procedure of the content analysis and therefore are initially concerned with points one to five (see table 24 in section 5.6).

The examination areas of the present thesis were examined out of a neo-institutional theoretical perspective. The existence of the PE and VC market and the issue of public funding were embedded in this theoretical framework (see sections 3.3, 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and table nine in section 3.3.2). A basic theory, a research question and a research aim and research objectives were derived from the developments in Germany’s economy, Germany’s PE and VC market and from the application of public funding measures (see sections 4.6.3 and 4.6.4). The research aim and objectives encompass the following research subjects which were also addressed by a purposive selection of publications.

The subsequent table 25 details the respective research subject and the relevant publication base.

The research subjects and the literature base

Research subject Literature base

1. Germany’s economic and innovation policy. BMWi reports;

BMBF reports.

2. Research subsidies KMU-innovativ and ZIM; public funding measures for SME investments, innovation projects, enterprise founding and equity investments on the federal level.

KfW reports;

KfW support reports; BMWi/BMBF reports. 3. Additional insights regarding the investment process, the AIFM-

directive and Basel III.

BVK publications.

With regard to the German economic policy, the German government is obliged to submit an annual economic report. This report is published by the federal department for economic and energy. The present analysis is based on the federal reports of 2011, 2012 and 2013 (BMWi 2011; BMWi 2012; BMWi 2013). These reports are sub-divided in two different chapters and an additional appendix. In the first parts of the reports, the German government comments on the economic development and economic political measures during the previous year. In addition, the government presents the future economic policy and annotates the opinion results from German’s council of economic experts. In part two of the economic reports, the government estimates the future economic development of the current year. This part two also presents a comparison of the governmental forecast for the previous year and the final economic outcome. The appendices of the reports each list legislation, legislative projects and initiatives of Germany’s government in the current year. These reports, which were completely available online, were required to examine the progress of Germany’s economic and public funding policy on the federal level.

The subsequent table 26 details the structure and the content of the present economic reports.

The content of the economic reports

Title BMWi report 2011 BMWi report 2012 BMWi report 2013

Publisher BMWi Berlin BMWi Berlin BMWi Berlin

Publishing date January 2011 January 2012 January 2013

Number of pages 98 101 114

Content of part I Annual economic

report 2010/2011

Annual economic report 2011/2012

Annual economic report 2012/2013

Content of part II Governmental

prediction for 2011 Governmental prediction for 2012 Governmental prediction for 2013 Appendix Governmental measures: 104 Governmental measures: 117 Governmental measures: 132

Table 26 The content of the economic reports (BMWi 2011; BMWi 2012; BMWi 2013)

With regard to innovation policy, the federal department for education and research publishes a comprehensive research and innovation report every two years. The analysis is based on the content of the research reports 2012 (BMBF 2012) and 2014 (BMBF 2014), which refer to the

timeframe of the post-crisis phase from 2010 to 2012. The reports are each sub-divided into three chapters. The first chapter describes the research and innovation policy of Germany’s government. This encompasses specific research, innovation and educational political measures on the national and international level. The second chapter of the reports describes the structure of the German research system and details the research and innovation policy each on the federal and federal states level. In addition, this chapter details the international research cooperation and presents data regarding research resources, publications, patents and the economic contribution of innovations in Germany. This second chapter also details public subsidies and public funding measures for research and development, for enterprise founding and innovation advisory. These reports were required to examine the progress of Germany’s innovation policy and public funding on the federal level. The reports were completely available online too.

The subsequent table 27 presents the structure and the content of the underlying research reports.

The content of the research reports

Title Research report 2012 Research report 2014

Publisher BMBF Berlin/Bonn BMBF Berlin/Bonn

Publishing date 2012 2014

Number of pages 656 722

Content of part I Research and innovation political objectives and measures.

Content of part II Structure, resources and support measures of the German innovation system.

Sections A. Structure of the German research and innovation system. B. Research and innovation policy of the federal government. C. Research and innovation policy in the federal states. D. International research cooperation.

E. Facts and figures regarding the German research and innovation system.

Content of part III Appendix: Overview of research institutions in Germany.

Table 27 The content of the research reports (BMBF 2012; BMBF 2014)

The analysis on the level of the KfW is based on the KfW reports of 2010, 2011 and 2012 (KfW 2011; KfW 2012; KfW 2013), and the KfW support reports of 2010, 2011 and 2012 (KfW 2011a; KfW 2012a; KfW 2013a). The annual reports of the KfW are sub-divided along business units. The category funding in Germany is associated with different business units. The first one is the so-called KfW-Mittelstandsbank which is focused on the financing of SMEs. The second one is the so-called KfW-Privatkundenbank which is focused on the financing of private households. The third one is the so-called KfW-Kommunalbank which is concerned with the

financing of local districts. The final business unit is the division of capital market securitisation. The present analysis is focused on the business unit of the KfW-Mittelstandsbank which provides funding programmes for SMEs, innovation projects, enterprise founding, equity investments and environmentalism projects.

The subsequent table 28 details the structure and the content of the KfW annual reports for 2010, 2011 and 2012.

The content of the KfW annual reports

Title KfW annual reports

Year 2010 2011 2012

Publisher KfW Frankfurt/Main KfW Frankfurt/Main KfW Frankfurt/Main

Publishing date 2011 2012 2013

Number of pages 136 127 126

Content Key figures.

Letter of the board of directors. Funding in Germany:

Business unit KfW Mittelstandsbank; Business unit KfW Privatkundenbank; Business unit KfW Kommunalbank. Securitisation.

Sales.

Export and project financing. Funding in developing countries. Capital markets.

Additional business services (only in report 2010). Staff resources.

Financial statement. Corporate governance.

Table 28 The content of the KfW annual reports (KfW 2011; KfW 2012; KfW 2013)

The support reports of the KfW (KfW 2011a; KfW 2012a; KfW 2013a) supplement the analysis of the annual reports (KfW 2011; KfW 2012; KfW 2013). The support reports present the information of the annual reports in greater detail, contain time series comparisons and detail the volume of the funding programmes down to the federal state and local district area. The initial analysis in section 4.5.2 showed that the analysis of the KfW programmes requires a detailed examination, as the programmes partly overlap and sometimes are discontinued or reintegrated in other programmes. This makes it difficult to analyse the progress of the programmes according to strict programme structures.

The subsequent table 29 details the structure and the content of the KfW support reports.

The content of the KfW support reports

Title KfW support reports

Year 2010 2011 2012

Publisher KfW Frankfurt/Main KfW Frankfurt/Main KfW Frankfurt/Main

Publishing date 2011 2012 2013

Number of pages 694 676 705

Basic content KfW funding volume on programme level.

Detailed reports on federal state’s level. Detailed reports on local district’s level. Specification regarding the calculation method.

Table 29 The content of the KfW support reports (KfW 2011a; KfW 2012a; KfW 2013a)

These reports were required to examine the progress of public funding programmes for enterprise financing, innovation financing, enterprise founding and equity financing on the KfW level. The reports were completely available online.

The sample frame for the third part of the text analysis is based on a purposive selection of publications from the BVK which were published during 2010, 2011 and 2012. This procedure was required to expand the results along the subjects investment process, AIFM-directive and Basel III. This included publications which were available online on BVK’s homepage and were listed under the following headings:

annual reports in the section BVK;

market information for investors in the section facts and figures; press releases in the section press releases;

private equity letters in the section publications.

The BVK publications were initially reviewed regarding their meaningfulness for the present research. This procedure finally resulted in a purposive selection of publications which are listed in table 30 (see appendix L.2). This publication base was analysed with different content analysis procedures. These procedures are described in greater detail in the subsequent sections.