Explores the relationship between the short-term and long-term returns of initial public offerings (IPOs) and the reputation of the underwriters associated with the IPOs. Previous work in this area has shown that use of reputable underwriters for the IPO leads to less short-run underpricing....

We examine the role of social ties in IPO underwriting syndicate formation and find that an investment bank is more likely to be included in the underwriting syndicate when it is connected to the IPO firm through interpersonal social ties between the respective executives and directors. These...