We track firms at birth and compare the growth and responsiveness to demand shocks of IPO firms and their birth-matched counterparts. Firms that are larger at birth with faster initial growth are more likely to go public. Firms in the top percentile of predicted propensity to go public grow 29...

We track firms at birth and compare the growth pattern of IPO firms and their birth-matched counterparts. Firms that are larger at birth with faster initial growth are more likely to attain a larger size later in life and go public. Firms in the top percentile of predicted propensity to go...