Venture Capitalist Certification in Initial Public Offerings
通过对比1983至1987年间有风险投资支持和无风险投资支持的IPO，发现风险投资家的参与能显著降低初始回报和承销费用，从而降低上市总成本并最大化发行净收益。
ABSTRACT This paper provides support for the certification role of venture capitalists in initial public offerings. Consistent with the certification hypothesis, a comparison of venture capital backed IPOs with a control sample of nonventure capital backed IPOs from 1983 through 1987 matched as closely as possible by industry and offering size indicates that venture capital backing results in significantly lower initial returns and gross spreads. In effect, the presence of venture capitalists in the issuing firms serves to lower the total costs of going public and to maximize the net proceeds to the offering firm. In addition, we document that venture capitalists retain a significant portion of their holdings in the firm after the IPO.