Associations between management forecast accuracy and pricing of IPOs in Athens Stock Exchange

This study examines the earnings forecast accuracy of newly listed companies on the Athens Stock Exchange and further investigates the relationship between earnings forecast and pricing of IPOs. It uses a unique dataset of 208 IPOs, which were floated during the period of January 1994 to December 2001 in the Athens Stock Exchange. The results suggest that investors are able to anticipate forecast errors at the time of listing. Pricing of IPOs indicate that firms with negative earnings forecast (pessimistic) are associated with low level of underpricing while optimistic management earning forecast can be a signal for high initial returns. Three variables - age of the IPOs, ownership by insiders and industry classification significantly contribute towards accuracy of earnings forecast

European Sovereign Debt Crisis and the Performance of Dutch IPOs

We provide new evidence of the impact of the ongoing deep financial crisis on the performance of Dutch IPOs during the period from January 1990 to May 2012. The findings indicate an increasing level of underpricing as a result of the recent financial crunch. This situation is attributed to the aggressive efforts of underwriters to create demand as well as their strong focus on rewarding investors for their participation. Their actions build the soil for long-term underperformance, a conclusion supported by multiple studies in the literature. Pre-owner loyalty signals the IPOs’ quality and promotes compensation by less underpricing. Going public with the aid of a reputable underwriter does not pay off, as it does not reduce the amount of money left on the table. Consistent with the information revelation theory, we argue that the underpricing phenomenon can be largely explained by a general desire for listin

Financial Expert CEOs and Earnings Management Around Initial Public Offerings

This study examines the association between financial expert CEOs and earnings management (EM) around initial public offerings. We identify financial expert CEOs as those having past experience in either banking or investment firms, large auditing firms, or finance-related roles. We find strong evidence that newly listed firms with financial expert CEOs are less likely to engage in either accrual-based or real EM in the offering year than those with non-financial expert CEOs. In particular, our results are robust after controlling for the potential selection issue that occurs due to non-random matching of CEOs to firms. In addition, we employ alternative measures of financial expertise, including past experience in a CFO position, financial experience variety, and professional qualifications. We document that CEOs who used to work as CFOs and those who gained varied financial experience are less likely to manage earnings through both accruals and real activities. Moreover, CEOs who have a professional qualification in finance and/or accounting are also associated with lower accrual-based EM

The Choice Among Non-Callable and Callable Bonds

This paper examines the choice and the pricing of callable and non-callable bonds. The popularity of callable and non-callable bonds is significantly related to the economic environment. Callable bonds are also more likely to be issued via a shelf prospectus and are more likely to be issued by banks than non-callable bonds. Evidently, firms that prefer to issue callable bonds seek to take advantage of their ability to process economic information but must pay a premium relative to straight bonds for the call feature. Firms that issue callable bonds do not consistently display the characteristics associated with severe agency problems

CEO Education and the Ability to Raise Capital

We examine whether heterogeneity of CEO academic qualifications matters in explaining the performance of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). We find that CEO education attainments perform a signaling role which depends not only on the level but also on the major of education. Specifically, we show that, irrespective of the level of academic achievements, IPO investors have a preference for top managers with practice or business oriented degrees as opposed to liberal arts degrees. Importantly, our findings suggest that both the level and quality of education training tend to reduce IPO underpricing, and this effect is less pronounced for less specialized degrees

Corporate Political Activism, Information Transparency, and IPO Compliance Costs

Due to their covert and often dubious nature, corporate political activities may encourage or facilitate opportunistic behaviors. Yet, they also subject firms to heightened visibility, which brings greater public and regulatory scrutiny. Using a hand-collected data set of politically connected US initial public offerings (IPOs), we investigate how this tension shapes the financial reporting incentives of firms going public and the accompanying direct compliance costs. Consistent with the agency view of corporate political activism (CPA), politically active IPO issuers have worse financial reporting quality, more litigation risk and eventually pay 28% more accounting fees than their peers. Additional analysis exploiting the US Supreme Court's landmark ruling on Citizens United versus Federal Election Commission suggests that the link between CPA and IPO accounting fees is likely to be causal. Finally, our evidence indicates that the involvement of specialized financial intermediaries in the political process has implications for the IPO financial reporting quality.</p

Collateral regulation and IPO-specific liberalization: the case of price limits in the Athens stock exchange

This paper uses a unique testing ground on the effect of price limits upon IPO pricing and initial returns. The Athens Stock Exchange offers the opportunity for this new experiment, as three substantial changes in limit regulations were implemented in a short period of eight years. The results indicate significant differences in initial returns. Effective price limits reduce underpricing in all market segments, without visible diminution of IPO activity. The introduction of mandatory book-building after price limits were phased out in Athens also led to reduced underpricing in the main market segment. Nevertheless, the existence of an independent effect of price limits explains why some regulators continue to use them to the present day

The investigation of the dynamic linkages between real estate market and stock market in Greece

We use quarterly data from Greece over the period 1997:1–2015:2 and investigate the dynamic linkages between the price of the real estate market and the price of the stock market focusing on two transmission mechanisms, namely the wealth and credit-price effects. The empirical analysis employs advanced methodological techniques and presents evidence supporting the existence of both the wealth effect and the credit effect in the long-run while in the short-run there is a one-way causal effect running from stock market towards house market. Results reveal asymmetric adjustment to equilibrium process and considerably stronger for positive deviations from the equilibrium

Specialist CEOs and IPO survival

This study examines the influence of specialist CEOs on the probability of failure and survivability of initial public offering (IPO) firms. We construct a generalist skills index based on CEOs' past employment history in order to classify CEOs into specialist and generalist ones. Specialist CEOs pursue a career in particular functional roles, firms and industry sectors, as opposed to generalist CEOs who accumulate their work experience through various positions, firms and industries. We uncover strong evidence that IPO firms with a specialist CEO have a lower probability of failure and a longer time to survive in subsequent periods following the offering. The findings suggest that specialist managerial ability has significant implications for post-issue performance of newly listed firms. Additionally, specialist CEOs may have incentives that are more aligned with those of the firm and its shareholders; thus, they are more likely to enhance the viability of IPO firms for a longer period of time