Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:18:45.551Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Initial Public Offerings as a Web of Conflicts of Interest: An Empirical Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Abstract:

While a ubiquitous phenomenon, initial public offerings (IPOs) have received no attention in the ethics literature. We provide an overview of a series of potential conflicts of interest that pervade the IPO process. We also report the results of an empirical assessment of IPOs and those elements that may inform a substantive moral hazard faced by key players in the period prior to and just after an IPO.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acoba, M. A. 1999. “Insider Trading Jurisprudence After United States v. O’Hagan: A Restatement (Second) of Torts 551(2) Perspective.” Cornell Law Review, 84: 13561417.Google Scholar
Aggarwal, R. K., Krigman, L., and Womack, K. L.. 2002. “Strategic IPO Underpricing, Information Momentum, and Lockup Expiration Selling.” Journal of Financial Economics 66:105137.Google Scholar
Aggarwal, R., Prabhala, N. R., and Puri, M.. 2002. “Institutional Allocation in Initial Public Offerings: Empirical Evidence.” Journal of Finance 57: 14211442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aghion, P., and Bolton, P.. 1992. “An Incomplete Contracts Approach to Financial Contracting.” Review of Finance Studies 59: 473494.Google Scholar
Anderson, S. C., Beard, T. R., and Born, J. A.. 1995. Initial Public Offerings: Findings and Theories. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Beatty, R. P., and Ritter, J. R.. 1986. “Investment Banking, Reputation, and Underpricing of Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Financial Economics 15: 213232.Google Scholar
Beatty, R. P., and Welch, I.. 1996. “Issuer Expenses and Legal Liability in Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Law and Economics 39: 545603.Google Scholar
Beatty, R. P., and Zajac, E. J.. 1994. “Managerial Incentives, Monitoring, and Risk Bearing: A Study of Executive Compensation, Ownership, and Board Structure in Initial Public Offerings.” Administrative Science Quarterly 39: 313335.Google Scholar
Benveniste, L. M., and Spindt, P. A.. 1989. “How Investment Bankers Determine the Offer Price and Allocation of New Issues.” Journal of Financial Economics 24: 343361.Google Scholar
Boatright, J. R. 2000. “Conflicts of Interest in Financial Services.” Business and Society Review 105: 201220.Google Scholar
Bohmer, E., Sanger, G. C., and Varshney, S. B.. 1996. “The Effect of Consolidated Control in Firm Performance: The Case of Dual-Class IPOs.” In Empirical Issues in Raising Equity Capital, ed. Lewis, M.. Amsterdam: North Holland.Google Scholar
Booth, J. R., and Smith, R. L.. 1986. “Capital Raising, Underwriting, and the Certification Process.” Journal of Financial Economics 15: 261281.Google Scholar
Brav, A., and Gompers, P. A.. 1997. “Myth or Reality? The Long-Run Underperformance of Initial Public Offerings: Evidence from Venture and Nonventure Capital–Backed Companies.” Journal of Finance 52: 17911821.Google Scholar
Brown, P. R., Calderon, J. A., and Lev, B.. 2000. “Administrative and Judicial Approaches to Auditor Independence.” Seton Hall Law Review 30: 443463.Google Scholar
Carson, T. L. 1994. “Conflict of Interests.” Journal of Business Ethics 13: 387405.Google Scholar
Carter, R. B. 1992. “Underwriter Reputation and Repetitive Public Offerings.” Journal of Finance 15: 341354.Google Scholar
Carter, R. B., Dark, F. H., and Singh, A. K.. 1997. “Underwriter Reputation, Initial Returns, and the Long-Run Performance of IPO Stocks.” Journal of Finance 53: 285311.Google Scholar
Carter, R. B., and Manaster, S.. 1990. “Initial Public Offerings and Underwriter Reputation. Journal of Finance 45: 10451067.Google Scholar
Chemmanur, T. J., and Fulghieri, P.. 1994. “Investment Bank Reputation, Information Production and Financial Intermediation.” Journal of Finance 49: 5779.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, H-C., and Ritter, J. R.. 2000. “The Seven Percent Solution.” Journal of Finance 55: 11051131.Google Scholar
Cinar, E. M. 1999. “The Issue of Insider Trading in Law and Economics: Lessons for Emerging Markets in the World.” Journal of Business Ethics 19: 345354.Google Scholar
Coffee, J. C. 1995. “Re-Engineering Corporate Disclosure: The Coming Debate Over Company Registration.” Washington and Lee Law Review 52: 11431188.Google Scholar
Daily, C. M., and Dalton, D. R.. 1994. “Bankruptcy and Corporate Governance: The Impact of Board Composition and Structure.” Academy of Management Journal 37: 16031617.Google Scholar
Daily, C. M., Johnson, J. L., and Dalton, D. R.. 1999. “On the Measurement of Board Composition: If You Have Seen One, You Certainly Have Not Seen Them All.” Decision Sciences 30: 83106.Google Scholar
Dalton, D. R., M, C.. Daily, A. E. Ellstrand, and Johnson, J. L.. 1998. “Board Composition, Leadership Structure, and Financial Performance: Meta-Analytic Reviews and Research Agenda.” Strategic Management Journal 19: 269290.3.0.CO;2-K>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Aveni, R. A. 1990. “Top Managerial Prestige and Organizational Bankruptcy.” Organization Science 1: 121142.Google Scholar
Davis, G. F., and Mizruchi, M. S.. 1999. “The Money Center Cannot Hold Commercial Banks in the U.S. System of Corporate Governance.” Administrative Science Quarterly 44: 215239.Google Scholar
DeMott, D. A. 1999. “The Figure in the Landscape: A Comparative Sketch of Directors’ Self-Interested Transactions.” Law and Contemporary Problems 62: 243267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiMaggio, P. J., and Powell, W. W.. 1983. “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields.” American Sociological Review 48: 147160.Google Scholar
Ellis, K., Michaely, R., and O’Hara, M.. 1999. “A Guide to the Initial Public Offering Process.” Corporate Finance Review 3: 1418.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. D. 1998. “Equity Derivatives, Executive Compensation, and Agency Costs.” Houston Law Review 35: 399451.Google Scholar
Espenlaub, S., and Tonks, I.. 1998. “Post-IPO Directors’ Sales and Reissuing Activity: An Empirical Test of IPO Signaling Models.” Journal of Business Finance & Accounting 25: 10371079.Google Scholar
Ewing, T., and Prager, J. H.. 2000. “Many are Finding IPOs Still Out of Reach.” Wall Street Journal, February, 28: C21.Google Scholar
Feltham, G., Hughes, J., and Simunic, D.. 1991. “Empirical Assessment of the Impact of Auditor Quality on the Valuation of New Issues.” Journal of Accounting and Economics 14: 125.Google Scholar
Field, L. C., and Hanka, G.. 2001. “The Expiration of IPO Share Lockups. Journal of Finance 56: 471500.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, S., and Hambrick, D. C.. 1996. Strategic Leadership: Top Executives and their Effects on Organizations. Minneapolis/St. Paul: West Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Fox, J. 1999. “Who Wants to be an Internet Billionaire?Fortune, November 8: 4044.Google Scholar
Gasparino, C., Schroeder, M., and Kranhold, K.. 2000a. “SEC Raises its Scrutiny of Offerings.” Wall Street Journal, December 19: C1.Google Scholar
Gasparino, C., Schroeder, M., and Kranhold, K.. 2000b. “SEC Targets IPO Process with Probes.” Wall Street Journal, December 9: C1.Google Scholar
Goldwasser, D. L. 2001. “The Rise and Fall of the ISB.” CPA Journal 71(10): 1012.Google Scholar
Gompers, P. A. 1995. “Optimal Investment, Monitoring, and the Staging of Venture Capital. Journal of Finance 50: 14611489.Google Scholar
Hanley, K. W., and Wilhelm, W. J.. 1995. “Evidence on the Strategic Allocation of Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Financial Economics 37: 239257.Google Scholar
Hawley, J. P., and Williams, A. T.. 2000. The Rise of Fiduciary Capitalism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Hayward, M. L. A., and Boeker, W.. 1998. “Power and Conflicts of Interest in Professional Firms: Evidence from Investment Banking.” Administrative Science Quarterly 43: 121.Google Scholar
Heller, S. M. 1995. “Getting Underway in Board Formation.” Directors & Boards 19: 2325.Google Scholar
Ibbotson, R. G., Sindelar, J. L., and Ritter, J. R.. 1988. “Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 1: 3745.Google Scholar
Ibbotson, R. G., Sindelar, J. L., and Ritter, J. R.. 1994. “The Market’s Problems with the Pricing of Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 7: 6674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Independence Standards Board. 2000. Statement of Independence Concepts: A Conceptual Framework for Auditor Independence. New York: Independence Standards Board. Copies of this report (ED 00-2) are available at cpaindependence.org.Google Scholar
Jacobson, M. A. 1996. “Interested Director Transactions and the (Equivocal) Effects of Shareholder Ratification.” Delaware Journal of Corporate Law 21: 9811025.Google Scholar
Jain, B. A., and Kini, O.. 1999. “The Life Cycle of Initial Public Offering Firms.” Journal of Business Finance & Accounting 26: 12811317.Google Scholar
James, K. In press. “Do Large Underwriters Form Investor Coalitions: Evidence from 13F Data.” Journal of Finance.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. M., and Miller, R. E.. 1988. “Investment Banker Prestige and the Underpricing of Initial Public Offerings. Financial Management 17: 1929.Google Scholar
Johnson, R. A., Hoskisson, R. E., and Hitt, M. A.. 1993. “Board of Director Restructuring: The Effects of Board versus Managerial Controls and Characteristics.” Strategic Management Journal 14: 3350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaback, H. 1996. “The Case for Cash for Directors.” Directors & Boards 20(2): 1424.Google Scholar
Keasey, K., and Short, H.. 1997. “Equity Retention and Initial Public Offerings: The Influence of Signalling and Entrenchment Effects.” Applied Financial Economics 7: 7585.Google Scholar
Knox, N., McCoy, K., and Krantz, M.. 2001. “Officials Suspect IPO Manipulation.” USA Today, May 25: B1B2.Google Scholar
Korn, H. J., and Baum, J. A.. 1999. “Chance, Imitative, and Strategic Antecedents to Multimarket Contact.” Academy of Management Journal 42: 171193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krigman, L., Shaw, W. H., and Womack, K. L.. 1999. “The Persistence of IPO Mispricing and the Predictive Power of Flipping.” Journal of Finance 54: 10151044.Google Scholar
Krigman, L., Shaw, W. H., and Womack, K. L.. 1999. “Why Do Firms Switch Underwriters?Journal of Financial Economics 60: 245284.Google Scholar
Langevoort, D. C. 1999. “Rereading Cady, Roberts: The Ideology and Practice of Insider Trading Regulation.” Columbia Law Review 99: 13191344.Google Scholar
Law, W. A. 1987. “Wall Street and the Public Interest.” In Wall Street and the Public Interest, ed. Hayes, S. L.. Boston: Harvard Business School Press169178.Google Scholar
Lawless, R. M., Ferris, S. P., and Bacon, B.. 1998. “The Influence of Legal Liability on Corporate Financial Signaling.” The Journal of Corporation Law 23: 209243.Google Scholar
Leland, H.. and Pyle, D.. 1977. “Information Asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial Intermediation.” Journal of Finance 32: 371387.Google Scholar
Loughran, T., and Ritter, J. R.. 2002. “Why Don’t Issuers Get Upset About Leaving Money on the Table in IPOs?Review of Financial Studies 15: 413443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowry, M., and Schwert, G. W.. 2002. “IPO Market Cycles: Bubbles or Sequential Learning?Journal of Finance 57: 11711200.Google Scholar
Lyons, D. 1999. “Silence isn’t Golden.” Forbes, December 13: 54.Google Scholar
McBain, M. L., and Krause, D. S.. 1989. “Going Public: The Impact of Insiders’ Holdings on the Price of Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Business Venturing 4: 419428.Google Scholar
McConnell, J. J., and Servaes, H.. 1990. “Additional Evidence on Equity Ownership and Corporate Value.” Journal of Financial Economics 27: 595612.Google Scholar
McDonough, M. 1997. “Death in One Act: The Case for Company Registration.” Pepperdine Law Review 24: 563647.Google Scholar
McGrath, S., Siegel, A., Dunfee, T. W., Glazer, A. S., and Jaenicke, H. R.. 2001. “A Framework for Auditor Independence.” Journal of Accountancy 191 (1): 3942.Google Scholar
Megginson, W. L., and Weiss, K. A.. 1991. “Venture Capitalist Certification in Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Finance 46: 879903.Google Scholar
Michaely, R., and Shaw, W. H.. 1994. “The Pricing of Initial Public Offerings: Tests of Adverse Selection and Signaling Theories.” Review of Financial Studies 7: 279319.Google Scholar
Michaely, R., and Womack, K. L., 1999. “Conflict of Interest and the Credibility of Underwriter Analyst Recommendations.” Review of Financial Studies 12: 653686.Google Scholar
Mikkelson, W. H., Partch, M. M., and Shah, K.. 1997. “Ownership and Operating Performance of Companies that Go Public.” Journal of Financial Economics 44: 281307.Google Scholar
Millstein, I. M., and MacAvoy, P.. 1998. “The Active Board of Directors and Performance of the Large Publicly Traded Corporation.” Columbia Law Review 98: 12831321.Google Scholar
Mullaney, T. J. 2000. “How to Take the Hype Out of IPOs.” Business Week, March 7: 110.Google Scholar
Myers, S. C., and Majluf, N. S.. 1984. “Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions when Firms have Information that Investors Do Not Have.” Journal of Financial Economics 13: 187221.Google Scholar
Painter, R. W. 2000. “Advance Waiver of Conflicts.” Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 13: 289329.Google Scholar
Palmiter, A. R. 1989. “Reshaping the Corporate Fiduciary Model: A Director’s Duty of Independence.” Texas Law Review 67: 13511417.Google Scholar
Prakash, S. 1999. “Our Dysfunctional Insider Trading Regime.” Columbia Law Review 99: 14911550.Google Scholar
Pulliam, S. 2000. “Seeking IPO Shares, Investors Make Offer to Buy More in After-Market. Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, December 6: 14.Google Scholar
Pulliam, S., and Smith, R.. 2001. “CSFB Official Set Quota for Repayment of IPO Profits in Form of Commissions.” Wall Street Journal, August 10: C1.Google Scholar
Ritter, J. R. 1998. “Initial Public Offerings.” Contemporary Finance Digest, 2: 530.Google Scholar
Ritter, J. R., and Welch, I.. 2002. “A Review of IPO Activity, Pricing, and Allocations.” Journal of Finance.Google Scholar
Sherman, A. E., and Titman, S.. 2002. “Building the IPO Order Book: Underpricing and Participation Limits with Costly Information.” Journal of Financial Economics.Google Scholar
Shivdasani, A. 1993. “Board Composition, Ownership Structure, and Hostile Takeovers.” Journal of Accounting and Economics 16: 167198.Google Scholar
Siegel, A., and Colson, R. H.. 2001. “Unsettled Auditor Independence Issues: Life after the ISB.” CPA Journal 71 (11): 1214.Google Scholar
Spiess, D. K., and Pettway, R. H.. 1997. “The IPO and First Seasoned Equity Sales: Issue Proceeds, Owner/Managers’ Wealth, and the Underpricing Signal.” Journal of Banking and Finance 21: 967988.Google Scholar
Strudler, A., and Orts, E. W.. 1999. “Moral Principle in the Law of Insider Trading.” Texas Law Review 78: 375438.Google Scholar
Teoh, S. H., Welch, I., and Wong, T. J.. 1998. “Earnings Management and the Long-Run Performance of Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Finance 53: 19351974.Google Scholar
Thurm, S. 1999. “Internet Firms Grease Wheels of Commerce with their IPO Shares.” Wall Street Journal, October 27: A1, A8.Google Scholar
Timmons, H. 2000. “Investment Banks: Let Analysts Do Their Jobs.” Business Week, October 30: 168.Google Scholar
Tully, S. 2001. “Betrayal on Wall Street.” Fortune, May 14: 8488.Google Scholar
Welbourne, T. M., and Andrews, A. O.. 1996. “Predicting the Performance of Initial Public Offerings: Should Human Resource Management Be in the Equation?Academy of Management Journal 39: 891919.Google Scholar
Williams, K. 2001. “Independence Standard Board Dissolves.” Strategic Finance 83 (3): 1922.Google Scholar
Wruck, K. 1989. “Equity Ownership Concentration and Firm Value.” Journal of Financial Economics 23: 328.Google Scholar
Zingales, L. 1995. “Insider Ownership and the Decision to Go Public.” Review of Economic Studies 62: 425428.Google Scholar