This paper examines how the difference in institutional environment across various provinces in China can explain IPO underpricing in the Chinese equity market. Using Chinese IPO data from 1999 to 2007, we find strong evidence that firms located in regions with better institutional environment...

We examine two inconclusive issues in the IPO underpricing literature. It is unclear if private firms or government-owned firms (SOEs) underprice their IPOs more and how institutional environment affects IPO underpricing. Using a much larger China IPO sample of SOEs, we conclude that SOEs...