  Let $k$ be a field and let $E$ be a finite quiver. We study the structure of
the finitely presented modules of finite length over the Leavitt path algebra
$L_k (E)$ and show its close relationship with the finite-dimensional
representations of the inverse quiver $\overline{E}$ of $E$, as well as with
the class of finitely generated $P_k(E)$-modules $M$ such that ${\rm
Tor}_q^{P_k (E)}(k^{|E^0|},M)=0$ for all $q$, where $P_k(E)$ is the usual path
algebra of $E$. By using these results we compute the higher $K$-theory of the
von Neumann regular algebra $Q_k (E)=L_k (E)\Sigma^{-1}$, where $\Sigma $ is
the set of all square matrices over $P_k (E)$ which are sent to invertible
matrices by the augmentation map $\epsilon \colon P_k (E)\to k^{|E^0|}$.
