Using a unique panel dataset that tracks corporate board development from a firm's IPO through 10 years later, we find that: (i) board size and independence increase as firms grow and diversify over time; (ii) board size mdash; but not board independence mdash; reflects a tradeoff between the...

Many firms deploy takeover defenses when they go public. We find that IPO managers are more likely to deploy defenses when their compensation is high, shareholdings are small, and oversight from non-managerial shareholders is weak. The presence of a takeover defense at the time of the IPO is...