Do Retail Incentives Work in Privatizations?

Twenty countries around the world have used $27 billion in incentives such as bonus shares and discounts to attract retail investors to participate in privatizations and to discourage them from flipping. Our results show that incentives have performed well, increasing retail investor participation much more cost-effectively than underpricing. Flipping is not only much reduced in the short term, but also declines by at least 15% over a period of 1,000 trading days. The expiration of bonus share plans is associated with a six-day abnormal return of -1.1% and a long-term increase in trading volume