IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/hastef/0174.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Stock Market as a Screening Device and the Decision to Go Public

Author

Listed:
  • Ellingsen, Tore

    (Department of Economics)

  • Rydqvist, Kristian

    (Norwegian School of Management)

Abstract

We argue that many firms become publicly traded on a stock exchange as the first stage of a longer term divestment plan. Making a direct sale of unlisted stock may be associated with great adverse selection costs. The publicly listed stock price reduces adverse selection by aggregating the information of several investors, and this market valuation, rather than the cash infusion, could be the main benefit of an initial public offering. This theory provides a unified treatment of a whole range of empirical observations, in particular why initial owners frequently exit completely subsequent to an initial public offering (IPO) and why the number of stock market introductions increases with the stock price level. The model also reformulates the ”sweet taste” explanation of IPO underpricing in a way which is consistent with recent evidence. Finally, we argue that the number of firms which go public is inefficiently large.

Suggested Citation

  • Ellingsen, Tore & Rydqvist, Kristian, 1997. "The Stock Market as a Screening Device and the Decision to Go Public," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 174, Stockholm School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:hastef:0174
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/papers/hastef0174.pdf.zip
    File Function: Complete Rendering
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/papers/hastef0174.pdf
    File Function: Complete Rendering
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/papers/hastef0174.ps.zip
    File Function: Complete Rendering
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/papers/hastef0174.ps
    File Function: Complete Rendering
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chemmanur, Thomas J & Fulghieri, Paolo, 1999. "A Theory of the Going-Public Decision," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 249-279.
    2. Mailath George J. & Okuno-Fujiwara Masahiro & Postlewaite Andrew, 1993. "Belief-Based Refinements in Signalling Games," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 241-276, August.
    3. Chemmanur, Thomas J, 1993. "The Pricing of Initial Public Offerings: A Dynamic Model with Information Production," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(1), pages 285-304, March.
    4. Michaely, Roni & Shaw, Wayne H, 1994. "The Pricing of Initial Public Offerings: Tests of Adverse-Selection and Signaling Theories," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 7(2), pages 279-319.
    5. Ellingsen, Tore, 1997. "Price signals quality: The case of perfectly inelastic demand," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 43-61, November.
    6. Barry, Christopher B. & Muscarella, Chris J. & Vetsuypens, Michael R., 1991. "Underwriter warrants, underwriter compensation, and the costs of going public," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 113-135, March.
    7. Ritter, Jay R., 1987. "The costs of going public," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 269-281, December.
    8. Kyle, Albert S, 1985. "Continuous Auctions and Insider Trading," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(6), pages 1315-1335, November.
    9. Luigi Zingales, 1995. "Insider Ownership and the Decision to Go Public," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(3), pages 425-448.
    10. Loughran, Tim & Ritter, Jay R. & Rydqvist, Kristian, 1995. "Initial public offerings: International insights," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 139-140, May.
    11. Smith, Clifford Jr., 1986. "Investment banking and the capital acquisition process," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 3-29.
    12. Marco Pagano & Ailsa Röell, 1998. "The Choice of Stock Ownership Structure: Agency Costs, Monitoring, and the Decision to Go Public," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(1), pages 187-225.
    13. Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Weinstein, Mark & Welch, Ivo, 1993. "An empirical investigation of IPO returns and subsequent equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 153-175, October.
    14. Theoharry Grammatikos & George Papaioannou, 1986. "Market Reaction To Nyse Listings: Tests Of The Marketability Gains Hypothesis," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 9(3), pages 215-227, September.
    15. Lucas, Deborah J & McDonald, Robert L, 1990. "Equity Issues and Stock Price Dynamics," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1019-1043, September.
    16. Welch, Ivo, 1989. " Seasoned Offerings, Imitation Costs, and the Underpricing of Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(2), pages 421-449, June.
    17. Timothy F. Bresnahan & Paul Milgrom & Jonathan Paul, 1992. "The Real Output of the Stock Exchange," NBER Chapters, in: Output Measurement in the Service Sectors, pages 195-216, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Roell, Ailsa, 1996. "The decision to go public: An overview," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 1071-1081, April.
    19. 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.
    20. Mike Burkart & Denis Gromb & Fausto Panunzi, 1997. "Large Shareholders, Monitoring, and the Value of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 693-728.
    21. Nanda, Vikram, 1991. "On the Good News in Equity Carve-Outs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(5), pages 1717-1737, December.
    22. Holmstrom, Bengt & Tirole, Jean, 1993. "Market Liquidity and Performance Monitoring," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(4), pages 678-709, August.
    23. Grinblatt, Mark & Hwang, Chuan Yang, 1989. " Signalling and the Pricing of New Issues," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(2), pages 393-420, June.
    24. Stoll, Hans R, 1989. " Inferring the Components of the Bid-Ask Spread: Theory and Empirical Tests," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(1), pages 115-134, March.
    25. Hellwig, Martin F., 1980. "On the aggregation of information in competitive markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 477-498, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mantecon, Tomas, 2008. "An analysis of the implications of uncertainty and agency problems on the wealth effects to acquirers of private firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 892-905, May.
    2. Johann Burgstaller, 2009. "When and why do Austrian companies issue shares?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 229-244, August.
    3. Thierry Foucault & Christine A. Parlour, 2004. "Competition for Listings," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 35(2), pages 329-355, Summer.
    4. Reuer, Jeffrey J. & Shen, Jung-Chin, 2004. "Sequential divestiture through initial public offerings," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 249-266, June.
    5. Carmelo Intrisano & Anna Paola Micheli & Anna Maria Calce, 2020. "Does Stock Listing Affect Value Creation and Profitability? Evidence from European Listed and Unlisted Companies," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(11), pages 130-130, November.
    6. David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann, 2013. "Corporate governance in newly listed companies," Chapters, in: Mario Levis & Silvio Vismara (ed.), Handbook of Research on IPOs, chapter 9, pages 179-206, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Damiano Bonardo & Stefano Paleari & Silvio Vismara, 2010. "The M&A dynamics of European science-based entrepreneurial firms," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 141-180, February.
    8. Tomas Mantecon & Paul Thistle, 2011. "The IPO market as a screening device and the going public decision: evidence from acquisitions of privately and publicly held firms," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 325-361, October.
    9. Schuster, Josef Anton, 2003. "IPOs: insights from seven European countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24860, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Annette B. Poulsen & Mike Stegemoller, 2008. "Moving from Private to Public Ownership: Selling Out to Public Firms versus Initial Public Offerings," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 37(1), pages 81-101, March.
    11. Erik Lehmann & Thorsten Braun & Sebastian Krispin, 2012. "Entrepreneurial human capital, complementary assets, and takeover probability," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(5), pages 589-608, October.
    12. Wolf Wagner, 2010. "Divestment, Entrepreneurial Incentives, and the Life Cycle of the Firm," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5-6), pages 591-611.
    13. Ehrhardt, Olaf & Lahr, Henry, 2008. "Uncertain private benefits and the decision to go public," CEFS Working Paper Series 2008-02, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    14. Tomáš Meluzín & Marek Zinecker, 2009. "Analyses of Partial Decision Models for IPO Realization," Ekonomika a Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2009(2).
    15. Wagner, W.B., 2002. "Divestment, Entrepreneurial Incentives and the Decision to go Public," Other publications TiSEM 9649686d-a816-4188-be3c-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Pešterac Aleksandra, 2020. "The Importance of Initial Public Offering for Capital Market Development in Developing Countries," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 58(1), pages 97-115, March.
    17. Wagner, W.B., 2002. "Divestment, Entrepreneurial Incentives and the Decision to go Public," Discussion Paper 2002-47, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.

    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. Jean Helwege & J. Nellie Liang, 2003. "Initial public offerings in hot and cold markets," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2003-04, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    2. 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.
    3. Mayur, Manas & Kumar, Manoj, 2006. "An Empirical Investigation of Going Public Decision of Indian Companies," MPRA Paper 1801, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Booth, James R. & Chua, Lena, 1996. "Ownership dispersion, costly information, and IPO underpricing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 291-310, June.
    5. van Bommel, Jos, 2002. "Messages from market to management: the case of IPOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 123-138, March.
    6. Welch, Ivo, 1996. "Equity offerings following the IPO theory and evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 227-259, February.
    7. Yin‐Hua Yeh & Pei‐Gi Shu & Re‐Jin Guo, 2008. "Ownership Structure and IPO Valuation—Evidence from Taiwan," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 37(1), pages 141-161, March.
    8. Kumar G Arun & Pandey, Ajay, 2001. "Relative Effectiveness of Signals in IPOs in Indian Capital Markets," IIMA Working Papers WP2001-09-03, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    9. Helwege, Jean & Packer, Frank, 2009. "Private matters," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 362-383, July.
    10. Xie, Xiaoying, 2010. "Are publicly held firms less efficient? Evidence from the US property-liability insurance industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1549-1563, July.
    11. Josef Schuster, 2003. "The Cross-Section of European IPO Returns," FMG Discussion Papers dp460, Financial Markets Group.
    12. Susana Álvarez & Víctor M. González, 2005. "Signalling and the Long-run Performance of Spanish Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1-2), pages 325-350.
    13. Mario Levis, 1995. "Seasoned equity offerings and the short‐ and long‐run performance of initial public offerings in the UK," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 1(2), pages 125-146, July.
    14. Reuer, Jeffrey J. & Ragozzino, Roberto, 2008. "Adverse selection and M&A design: The roles of alliances and IPOs," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 195-212, May.
    15. 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.
    16. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Shan He & Debarshi K. Nandy, 2010. "The Going-Public Decision and the Product Market," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1855-1908.
    17. Schuster, Josef Anton, 2003. "The cross-section of European IPO returns," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24859, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Gromb, Denis & Faure-Grimaud, Antoine, 2000. "Public Trading and Private Incentives," CEPR Discussion Papers 2505, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Biais, Bruno & Faugeron-Crouzet, Anne Marie, 2002. "IPO Auctions: English, Dutch, ... French, and Internet," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 9-36, January.
    20. Boulton, Thomas J. & Campbell, T. Colin, 2016. "Managerial confidence and initial public offerings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 375-392.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    IPOs; going public; seasoned offers; underpricing; adverse selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

    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:hhs:hastef:0174. 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: Helena Lundin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/erhhsse.html .

    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.