The results indicate that although interest rate premia reflect a number of small firm risk characteristics, they do not seem to have significantly benefited from the increased bank competition of the late 1980s.

This article examines the initial returns and the aftermarket performance of initial public offerings (IPOs) of demutualized building societies in the UK. The size of the IPOs and the unusual features of the process involved allow for the testing of a number of hypotheses developed from...