The Short-Run Performance of IPOs of Privately- and Publicly-Owned Firms: International Evidence

This article compares the initial returns of privatization initial public offerings (IPOs) to those of privately-owned enterprises and investigates the determinants of short-run performance of privatization IPOs, using a sample of 185 privatization IPOs from 30 countries, over the period from 1981 to 1997. The evidence indicates that there is a general tendency for privatizations to be underpriced to a greater degree than the initial public offerings of privately-owned enterprises. In addition to comparing privatization IPOs to the private IPOs, the cross-sectional determinants of privatization initial returns are analyzed. The empirical results strongly support the theoretical models of Perotti (1995) and Biais and Perotti (1997). The degree of underpricing at the initial public offering is positively related to the stake sold at initial public offerings and to the degree of uncertainty in ex ante value of newly-privatized firms.