Several signaling models predict that firms underprice their initial offerings of equity deeply so that they can subsequently issue seasoned equity at more favorable terms. We test the implications of those models. We find a positive relation between IPO underpricing and the possibility of and...

This study presents the first comprehensive compilation of the number of people around the world who own shares directly and indirectly. We document that at least 310 million people in 59 countries (24 developed and 35 emerging market nations) own stock directly [Table 1]. Nearly 173 million of...

Governments around the world are attempting to support individuals' incomes, rescue distressed businesses, and preserve employer-employee relationships damaged in the coronavirus pandemic by adopting fiscal stimulus programs of unprecedented scale. Although the bulk of this spending will involve...

This study presents the first comprehensive compilation of the number of people around the world owning shares voluntarily. We document that at least 317 million people in 70 countries (24 developed and 46 emerging market nations) invest in equity of publically listed companies or mutual funds....

We review and bridge the literature on the internationalization of state-owned firms and sovereign wealth funds to provide a novel understanding of how governments’ nonbusiness objectives affect foreign investments. We explain how governments as foreign investors behave differently from...

Using hand-collected data from China’s split share structure reform (SSSR) programme, we theorise and show that the certification of foreign institutional investors mitigates domestic minority shareholders’ mistrust of controlling shareholders’ reform plans and facilitates the SSSR....

Using a sample of 1,593 US firms that go public between 1990 and 2007, we find that VC-backed IPOs experience less financial distress risk post-offering than do comparable non-VC-backed IPOs. After controlling for endogeneity, we find this is related to the screening done by VC-investors, who...

This study describes the Indian corporate governance system and examines how the system has both supported and held back India's ascent to the top ranks of the world's economies. While on paper the country's legal system provides some of the best investor protection in the world, enforcement is...

This study describes the Indian corporate governance system and examines how the system has both supported and held back India's ascent to the top ranks of the world's economies. While on paper the country's legal system provides some of the best investor protection in the world, enforcement is...

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic and health crises (“twin crises”) worldwide. Using a sample of firms from 74 countries over the period January to August 2020, we examine stock price reactions of multinational corporations (MNCs) and purely domestic companies (DCs) to the crisis. We...