In this paper we present a comprehensive comparison of IPO placement methods in over 50 countries. We find that out of the three primary methods, fixed price public offers, auctions, and book building, auctions are least popular with issuers. Since auctions allow for price discovery while...

The unique characteristics of the U.S. initial public offer (IPO) process, particularly the strict quiet period regulations, allow us to explore the effects of media coverage when the coverage does not contain genuine news (i.e., hard information that was previously unknown). We show that a...

This paper examines the book building mechanism for marketing initial public offerings. We present a model where the underwriter selects a group of investors along with a pricing and allocation mechanism in a way that maximizes the information generated during the process of going public at a...

This is Appendix D of the paper 'Why Do IPO Auctions Fail?' It contains information on IPO methods for 44 countries, including more details regarding our sources. We contacted stock exchanges and financial market regulators around the world, and also gathered information from academic sources...

We document a somewhat surprising regularity: of the many countries that have used IPO auctions, virtually all have abandoned them. The common explanations given for the lack of popularity of the auction method in the US, viz., issuer reluctance to try a new experimental method, and underwriter...

An interesting feature of the allocation of initial public offerings (IPOs) is that issuers in many countries tend to favor small over large investors. This occurs in the U.K., Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand and Bangladesh, among other places. For example in Hong Kong...

There is a global trend in initial public offerings towards the increased use of book building, the primary US method. A key difference between book building and other methods such as auctions is that, with book building, the underwriter has total discretion in allocating shares, allowing...