Three Essays in Private Equity.

Summary Recent years have witnessed a lack of momentum in equity markets that has driven a growing number of investors to turn to private markets, including private equity.This manuscript addresses research questions that characterize the changes that private equity is experiencing today: a search for relative liquidity, a quest for superior returns in new markets, and a stability in human capital, which remains an important vector of communication during fundraising.The first dissertation of this thesis examines the impact of the public listing of private equity vehicles on their performance and shows that exposure to liquidity induces significantly lower realized performances.The second dissertation examines the performance of private equity in emerging markets and shows that the success of these investments is related to the geographic distance and the cultural proximity between private equity firms and the investee companies.Finally, the last dissertation of this thesis examines the importance of human capital for private equity firms and shows that manager mobility deteriorates performance.