Using a unique newly constructed data set on Israeli IPO firms in the 1990s, we study costs and benefits of universal banking. The post-issue accounting profitability of firms underwritten by bank affiliated underwriters that were also borrowers from the same bank in the IPO year, is...

We study the post-IPO performance of Israeli manufacturing firms during teh period 1991-4, finding a decline in profitability and an increase in General and Adminstrative Expenses normalized by sales (GAE), reflecting managerial waste.