Private Equity's Influence on the Real Economy

n recent years, the private equity industry has experienced a fast pace of growth and today it represents an important part of both Swedish, and World economy. According to the Swedish Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (SVCA), in 2007 private equity investments in Sweden amounted to about 1.6 per cent of GDP, making the Swedish private equity industry, together with Great Britain’s, Europe's industry leaders. Today, around 170 000 Swedish employees are employed by one of the 800+ companies owned by private equity firms. The purpose of this project is to study how the private equity business functions, and its effects on the real economy, such as job creation, research & development and productivity. As a part of this project, a unique data base with more than 450 private equity buy-outs will be created and linked with detailed information on financial statements and owners of legal entities in Sweden.