Optimal investment of private equity

We investigate the implications of illiquidity and compensation structure on the investment decision of Private Equity (PE). We use a real option model to capture the optimal entry of PE investment for the risk-averse investors, and it shows that the illiquidity has ambiguous effects on the investment hurdle. Different from the economic implications of standard real option, our model shows that high illiquidity may accelerate or delay the investment decision. Management fees or carried interest will induce under-investment of PE. Moreover, our theoretical predictions are supported by the empirical evidence. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.