IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v82y2025ics0927539825000350.html

The rise of venture capital and IPO quality

Author

Listed:
  • Nain, Amrita
  • Ying, Jie
  • Arthur, Joseph

Abstract

We show that an increase in the supply of venture capital (VC) leads to a decline in the quality of firms going public. We argue that due to VC selectivity, private capital flows disproportionately to the most promising firms causing them to hold back from public issuance. Post-IPO abnormal returns indicate that the stock market does not fully incorporate this decline in quality at the time of the IPO. Our research adds to recent evidence on the negative impact of fast-growing private markets on Main Street investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Nain, Amrita & Ying, Jie & Arthur, Joseph, 2025. "The rise of venture capital and IPO quality," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:82:y:2025:i:c:s0927539825000350
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2025.101613
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539825000350
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2025.101613?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jay R. Ritter & Ivo Welch, 2002. "A Review of IPO Activity, Pricing, and Allocations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1795-1828, August.
    2. Spatt, Chester & Srivastava, Sanjay, 1991. "Preplay Communication, Participation Restrictions, and Efficiency in Initial Public Offerings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 4(4), pages 709-726.
    3. Gompers, Paul & Lerner, Josh, 2000. "Money chasing deals? The impact of fund inflows on private equity valuation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 281-325, February.
    4. Michelle Lowry & Micah S. Officer & G. William Schwert, 2010. "The Variability of IPO Initial Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 425-465, April.
    5. Maksimovic, Vojislav & Pichler, Pegaret, 2001. "Technological Innovation and Initial Public Offerings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 459-494.
    6. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Karthik Krishnan & Debarshi K. Nandy, 2011. "How Does Venture Capital Financing Improve Efficiency in Private Firms? A Look Beneath the Surface," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(12), pages 4037-4090.
    7. Todd A. Gormley & David A. Matsa, 2014. "Common Errors: How to (and Not to) Control for Unobserved Heterogeneity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(2), pages 617-661.
    8. Henry Chen & Paul Gompers & Anna Kovner & Josh Lerner, 2010. "Buy Local? The Geography of Venture Capital," NBER Chapters, in: Cities and Entrepreneurship, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Shai Bernstein & Xavier Giroud & Richard R. Townsend, 2016. "The Impact of Venture Capital Monitoring," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(4), pages 1591-1622, August.
    10. Benveniste, Lawrence M. & Wilhelm, William J., 1990. "A comparative analysis of IPO proceeds under alternative regulatory environments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1-2), pages 173-207.
    11. Laura Casares Field & Jonathan M. Karpoff, 2002. "Takeover Defenses of IPO Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 1857-1889, October.
    12. Mark Grinblatt & Chuan Yang Hwang, "undated". "Signalling and the Pricing of Unseasoned New Issues," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 01-89, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    13. Michael Ewens & Joan Farre-Mensa, 2020. "The Deregulation of the Private Equity Markets and the Decline in IPOs," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(12), pages 5463-5509.
    14. Lerner, Josh, 1995. "Venture Capitalists and the Oversight of Private Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 301-318, March.
    15. Helwege, Jean & Liang, Nellie, 2004. "Initial Public Offerings in Hot and Cold Markets," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(3), pages 541-569, September.
    16. Allen, Franklin & Faulhaber, Gerald R., 1989. "Signalling by underpricing in the IPO market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 303-323, August.
    17. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Gang Hu & Jiekun Huang, 2010. "The Role of Institutional Investors in Initial Public Offerings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(12), pages 4496-4540, December.
    18. Hellmann, Thomas & Puri, Manju, 2000. "The Interaction between Product Market and Financing Strategy: The Role of Venture Capital," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 13(4), pages 959-984.
    19. Mitchell, Mark L & Stafford, Erik, 2000. "Managerial Decisions and Long-Term Stock Price Performance," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(3), pages 287-329, July.
    20. Tim Loughran & Jay Ritter, 2004. "Why Has IPO Underpricing Changed Over Time?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(3), Fall.
    21. Michael J. Fishman & Jonathan A. Parker, 2015. "Valuation, Adverse Selection, and Market Collapses," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(9), pages 2575-2607.
    22. Krishnan, C. N. V. & Ivanov, Vladimir I. & Masulis, Ronald W. & Singh, Ajai K., 2011. "Venture Capital Reputation, Post-IPO Performance, and Corporate Governance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(5), pages 1295-1333, October.
    23. Naveen Khanna & Thomas H. Noe & Ramana Sonti, 2008. "Good IPOs Draw in Bad: Inelastic Banking Capacity and Hot Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(5), pages 1873-1906, September.
    24. Doidge, Craig & Karolyi, G. Andrew & Stulz, René M., 2013. "The U.S. left behind? Financial globalization and the rise of IPOs outside the U.S," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 546-573.
    25. Loughran, Tim & Ritter, Jay R, 1995. "The New Issues Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 23-51, March.
    26. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2004. "New lists: Fundamentals and survival rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 229-269, August.
    27. Yung, Chris & Çolak, Gönül & Wei Wang, 2008. "Cycles in the IPO market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 192-208, July.
    28. Gao, Mingze & Leung, Henry & Qiu, Buhui, 2021. "Organization capital and executive performance incentives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    29. Sudipto Bhattacharya & Jay R. Ritter, 1983. "Innovation and Communication: Signalling with Partial Disclosure," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 50(2), pages 331-346.
    30. Gompers, Paul A, 1995. "Optimal Investment, Monitoring, and the Staging of Venture Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1461-1489, December.
    31. Kwon, Sungjoung & Lowry, Michelle & Qian, Yiming, 2020. "Mutual fund investments in private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(2), pages 407-443.
    32. Doris Kwon & Olav Sorenson, 2023. "The Silicon Valley Syndrome," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 344-368, March.
    33. Benveniste, Lawrence M. & Spindt, Paul A., 1989. "How investment bankers determine the offer price and allocation of new issues," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 343-361.
    34. Chemmanur, Thomas J & Fulghieri, Paolo, 1999. "A Theory of the Going-Public Decision," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 249-279.
    35. Megginson, William L & Weiss, Kathleen A, 1991. "Venture Capitalist Certification in Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(3), pages 879-903, July.
    36. Yael V. Hochberg & Joshua D. Rauh, 2013. "Local Overweighting and Underperformance: Evidence from Limited Partner Private Equity Investments," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(2), pages 403-451.
    37. Gao, Xiaohui & Ritter, Jay R. & Zhu, Zhongyan, 2013. "Where Have All the IPOs Gone?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(6), pages 1663-1692, December.
    38. Naveen Khanna & Thomas H. Noe & Ramana Sonti, 2008. "Good IPOs draw in bad: Inelastic banking capacity and hot markets," Economics Series Working Papers 2008fe10, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    39. Bhattacharya, Utpal & Borisov, Alexander & Yu, Xiaoyun, 2015. "Firm Mortality and Natal Financial Care," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(1-2), pages 61-88, April.
    40. Lerner, Joshua, 1994. "Venture capitalists and the decision to go public," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 293-316, June.
    41. Rock, Kevin, 1986. "Why new issues are underpriced," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 187-212.
    42. Cumming, Douglas & Dai, Na, 2010. "Local bias in venture capital investments," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 362-380, June.
    43. repec:bla:jfinan:v:44:y:1989:i:2:p:393-420 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Colak, Gonul & Fu, Mengchuan & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2025. "Predicting IPO first-day returns: Evidence from machine learning analyses," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    2. Jeppsson, Hans, 2018. "Initial public offerings, subscription precommitments and venture capital participation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 650-668.
    3. Colak, Gonul & Fu, Mengchuan & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2020. "Why are some Chinese firms failing in the US capital markets? A machine learning approach," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    4. Grammenos, Costas Th. & Papapostolou, Nikos C., 2012. "US shipping initial public offerings: Do prospectus and market information matter?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 276-295.
    5. Blomkvist, Magnus & Korkeamäki, Timo & Takalo, Tuomas, 2022. "Learning and staged equity financing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Hanafi, Mamduh M., 2021. "Fixed price and book building methods in an exogenous environment: Evidence from Indonesia stock market," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    7. Amor, Salma Ben & Kooli, Maher, 2020. "Do M&A exits have the same effect on venture capital reputation than IPO exits?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    8. Signori, Andrea, 2018. "Zero-revenue IPOs," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 106-121.
    9. Reber, Beat, 2017. "Does mispricing, liquidity or third-party certification contribute to IPO downside risk?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 25-53.
    10. Fouad Jamaani & Manal Alidarous, 2019. "Review of Theoretical Explanations of IPO Underpricing," Journal of Accounting, Business and Finance Research, Scientific Publishing Institute, vol. 6(1), pages 1-18.
    11. Bostan, Ibrahim & Mian, G. Mujtaba, 2024. "Inventor CEOs and financing of innovation: Evidence from IPOs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    12. Evgeny Lyandres & Fangjian Fu & Erica X. N. Li, 2018. "Do Underwriters Compete in IPO Pricing?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(2), pages 925-954, February.
    13. Jay R. Ritter & Ivo Welch, 2002. "A Review of IPO Activity, Pricing, and Allocations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1795-1828, August.
    14. Bajo, Emanuele & Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Simonyan, Karen & Tehranian, Hassan, 2016. "Underwriter networks, investor attention, and initial public offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 376-408.
    15. Goergen, Marc & Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Koutroumpis, Panagiotis, 2021. "Do multiple credit ratings reduce money left on the table? Evidence from U.S. IPOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    16. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & He, Jie, 2011. "IPO waves, product market competition, and the going public decision: Theory and evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 382-412, August.
    17. Agathee, Ushad Subadar & Sannassee, Raja Vinesh & Brooks, Chris, 2012. "The underpricing of IPOs on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 281-303.
    18. Natalia Matanova & Tanja Steigner & Bingsheng Yi & Qiancheng Zheng, 2019. "Going concern opinions and IPO pricing accuracy," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 195-238, July.
    19. Trauten, Andreas, 2004. "Zur Effizienz von Wertpapieremissionen über Internetplattformen," Working Papers 8, University of Münster, Competence Center Internet Economy and Hybrid Systems, European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS).
    20. Reber, Beat & Vencappa, Dev, 2016. "Deliberate premarket underpricing and aftermarket mispricing: New insights on IPO pricing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 18-33.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:82:y:2025:i:c:s0927539825000350. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jempfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.