Studies of Small Business Finance: Small Business Access to Capitol Markets through Pension Funds

摘要

The author studies the effects of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) on small business access to pension fund supplied capital. The study gives a brief history of the Department of Labor's restrictions on the types of investments pension funds can hold since the passage of ERISA. The initial restrictions severely cut pension fund participation in the venture capital market (which is an important source of financing for small business).