Going Public in Poland: Case-by-Case Privatizations, Mass Privatization and Private Sector Initial Public Offerings

This study compares the characteristics and the price behavior of case-by-case privatization initial public offerings, private sector initial public offerings and the mass privatization program in Poland over the first eight years after the reopening of the Warsaw Stock Exchange in April 1991. There is evidence that the Polish government is market-oriented in the sense of Perotti (1995), trying to build up reputation for its privatization policy over time by underpricing and selling a higher fraction at the initial offer. In the long-run private sector initial public offerings tend to underperform whereas case-by-case privatization initial public offerings experience neither an under- nor an overperformance. What is surprising in this context is the significantly negative long-run aftermarket performance of the certificates and shares of the mass privatization program.