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In this article, we study the decision-making criteria that business angels (BAs) adopt when screening business opportunities in the different assessment phases (pre-screening, screening and due diligence). We exploit an original dataset of 1942 ventures that sought angel investment from 2008 to 2014 from the members of Italian Angels for Growth (IAG). Results have shown that the emphasis that BAs place on rejection criteria and contact channels varies along the three considered stages of the investment process. In particular, we found that business proposals brought to the attention of BAs by venture capitalists are more likely to get through the pre-screening stage, suggesting an important quality certification role played by venture capitalists. Moreover, at the screening stage (in comparison with the pre-screening stage), proposals are rejected more often for reasons related to the characteristics of the entrepreneur and management team and less often for the lack of business innovativeness. Finally, business proposals showing lower levels of profitability are more likely to be rejected after the due diligence.

Since the seminal works of Wetzel, research on business angels (BAs) has emerged as a new and promising research field. This review analyses the current knowledge on BAs, identifying the main contents and outcomes. We also provide a bibliometric analysis to illustrate the evolution of the research field, the level of dispersion of the scientific community, the main outlets for publication and the different methodological approaches adopted. Through the analysis of backward and forward citations, we depict the current knowledge base on which BA research is grounded and whether it has any impact on other research fields.

In recent years, the proactive management of patents and their exploitation through licensing out and sales transactions have been enhanced by the development of intermediaries and trading platforms. This paper first investigates the main drivers of companies' decisions to engage in patent licensing and sales; then, it examines how improvements in the marketplace for patents and more intense involvement of patent brokers might impact the factorshindering the development of patent transactions. The study's findings are supported by the results found in the scientific literature and by evidence from a survey conducted on a sample of companies involved in patent transactions.