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Underwriter reputation and pricing of risk: evidence from seasoned equity offerings

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  • Cathy Cao
  • Chongyang Chen
  • Joyce Wang

Abstract

This paper investigates how underwriter-issuer matching choices and firm risks affect the cost of equity issuance. We show that underwriter-issuer matching is not random; it reflects underwriter reputation and risk concerns, issuers’ quality, and equity market conditions. We apply Heckman self-selection estimation model to control for the endogenous underwriter-issuer matching. We find that the matching choice leads to considerable heterogeneity in pricing of issuer systematic and firm-specific risks in seasoned equity offering (SEO) underwriting fees. Low-reputation underwriters require compensation for bearing issuer’s systematic risk but not for firm-specific risk, while high-reputation underwriters do the opposite. Moreover, evidence in this paper suggests that the underwriter-issuer matching decision entails a non-linear relation between SEO spread and underwriter reputation: high- and low- reputation underwriters earn higher spreads than medium-reputation underwriters. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for underwriter-issuer matching in assessing SEO underwriting contracts. The results are robust to alternative underwriter reputation measure, model specifications, sample periods, and different samples of firms. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Cathy Cao & Chongyang Chen & Joyce Wang, 2015. "Underwriter reputation and pricing of risk: evidence from seasoned equity offerings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 609-643, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:44:y:2015:i:4:p:609-643
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-013-0420-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Gupta, Manu & Prakash, Puneet & Rangan, Nanda K., 2017. "Determinants of underwriting spreads internationally: Evidence from SEOs," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-22.
    2. Cathy Xuying Cao & Chongyang Chen & Ekaterina E. Emm & Bo Han, 2022. "Corporate diversification and seasoned equity offering performance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 581-614, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Seasoned equity offering; Investment bank; Underwriter; Reputation; Risk; Gross spread; G24; G32; L14;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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