Financial Globalization and the Rise of IPOs outside the U.S.

During the past two decades, the fraction of the world's initial public offerings (IPOs) accounted for by U.S. firms has fallen sharply. This decrease is attributed to higher IPO activity outside the U.S. and lower IPO activity in the U.S. We show that financial globalization has played a major role in the growth of IPOs outside the U.S. Historically, a country's IPO activity was strongly related to the quality of its institutions and better institutions helped explain the higher IPO activity in the U.S. compared to other countries. However, greater financial globalization has been associated with a reduction in the importance of institutions as determinants of a country's IPO activity. A large part of the increase in IPO activity outside the U.S. occurred through global IPOs, IPOs in which some of the proceeds are raised outside the firm's home country. Financial globalization has enabled firms from countries with poorer institutions to make use of global IPOs and they have done so more than firms from other countries. The evidence is consistent with the view that access to global markets and, more generally, financial globalization helps firms overcome the obstacles of poor institutions.