Ownership Structure and the Life-Cycle of the Firm: A Theory of the Decision to Go Public |
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Authors: | Ernst Maug |
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Institution: | (1) Humboldt-Universität zu, Berlin |
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Abstract: | This paper presents a theory of initial public offerings based on the ideathat the optimal ownership structure of a company changes over the life cycleof the firm. Insiders take the company public when they have lost thecomparative advantage over outsiders in gathering information to evaluate thefirm's growth prospects. The size of the share sold to the public depends onthe relative abilities of the market and insiders to gather this informationand on the frictions in the going-public process. Intermediaries help toreduce these frictions and lead to a more efficient allocation if IPOs areconducted more frequently. Discrimination between different classes ofinvestors may be beneficial. Learning by the market about projects in a newindustry can lead to a clustering of new issues (hot issue markets). |
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Keywords: | Initial public offerings going public underwriting |
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