Underpricing of Initial Public Offerings: A Literature Review

Abstract

Rock's [1] theory ascertains information asymmetry as a primary reason to answer " Why New Issues are Underpriced? " Theoretical construct of this seminal work is based on information asymmetry between various classes of investors. Empirical manifestation of this theoretical explanation is based on considering different proxy measures to quantify the information asymmetry as perceived by various researchers over the past three decades. The growing IPO literature also explained underpricing with the help of agency theory, signaling, behavioural theories etc. Empirical research has identified various determinants of IPO underpricing. The influence of various factors predominantly depends upon country specific regulations, market microstructure and price discovery mechanism. Although many factors have justified the degree of underpricing, controlling for these factors does not completely eliminate the degree of under pricing. The justification of residual underpricing through these factors has limitations in terms of failure to completely explain the IPO underpricing. The paper reviews different factors presented in the extant literature that influence the price discovery mechanism of initial public offerings (IPO) in various economies. We conclude that the degree of underpricing is dynamic and various markets forces interact simultaneously in observing the variation in pricing the new equity issues. This paper points out the significance of regulatory framework in explaining the degree of IPO underpricing.