Lemons or Cherries? Growth Opportunities and Market Temptations in Going Public and Private
研究了英国1996-2006年间公司上市或退市决策对投资和盈利的影响，发现上市后投资和盈利显著增加，而退市后投资减少但盈利增加，尤其对私募股权收购的公司影响更大。
Abstract Is the decision to go public or private a stock-market-driven “sideshow” or does it have significant effects on investment and profitability? We address this issue using a comprehensive data set of private and public companies in the U.K. during 1996–2006. Firms with high investment-financing needs, lower information-production costs, and high industry market-to-book ratios are more likely to go public. In contrast to the literature, we find that capital investment and profitability increase substantially after the initial public offering (IPO). Consistent with the agency-cost-based theories of going private, firms decrease investment but increase profits after going private, especially firms bought out by private equity investors. Our analysis also highlights the effects of market conditions on the ownership structure decision.