Why Has IPO Underpricing Changed Over Time
分析1980-2003年间IPO首日回报率从7%升至65%再回落的趋势，认为泡沫期高抑价源于发行人目标变化，更重视研究覆盖而非最大化募资，且高管个人账户获配热门新股激励其寻求抑价严重的承销商。
In the 1980s, the average first-day return on initial public offerings (IPOs) was 7%. The average first-day return doubled to almost 15 % during 1990-1998, before jumping to 65% during the internet bubble years of 1999-2000 and then reverting to 12 % during 2001-2003. We attribute much of the higher underpricing during the bubble period to a changing issuer objective function. We argue that in the later periods there was less focus on maximizing IPO proceeds due to an increased emphasis on research coverage. Furthermore, allocations of hot IPOs to the personal brokerage accounts of issuing firm executives created an incentive to seek rather than avoid underwriters with a reputation for severe underpricing. What explains the severe underpricing of initial public offerings in 1999-2000, when the average first-day return of 65 % exceeded any level previously seen before? In this article, we address this and the related question of why IPO underpricing doubled from 7 % during 1980-1989 to almost 15 % during 1990-1998 before reverting to 12 % during the post-bubble period of 2001-2003. Our goal is to explain low-frequency movements in underpricing (or first-day returns) that occur less often than hot and cold issue markets. We examine three hypotheses for the change in underpricing: 1) the changing risk composition