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Eclipse of the Public Corporation or Eclipse of the Public Markets?

Author

Listed:
  • Craig Doidge
  • Kathleen M. Kahle
  • G. Andrew Karolyi
  • René M. Stulz

Abstract

Since reaching a peak in 1997, the number of listed firms in the U.S. has fallen in every year but one. During this same period, public firms have been net purchasers of $3.6 trillion of equity (in 2015 dollars) rather than net issuers. The propensity to be listed is lower across all firm size groups, but more so among firms with less than 5,000 employees. Relative to other countries, the U.S. now has abnormally few listed firms. Because markets have become unattractive to small firms, existing listed firms are larger and older. We argue that the importance of intangible investment has grown but that public markets are not well-suited for young, R&D-intensive companies. Since there is abundant capital available to such firms without going public, they have little incentive to do so until they reach the point in their lifecycle where they focus more on payouts than on raising capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Craig Doidge & Kathleen M. Kahle & G. Andrew Karolyi & René M. Stulz, 2018. "Eclipse of the Public Corporation or Eclipse of the Public Markets?," NBER Working Papers 24265, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24265
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    Cited by:

    1. Vojislav Maksimovic & Gordon M. Phillips & Liu Yang, 2019. "Do Public Firms Respond to Industry Opportunities More Than Private Firms? The Impact of Initial Firm Quality," NBER Working Papers 25634, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Perotti, Enrico & Döttling, Robin, 2017. "Secular Trends and Technological Progress," CEPR Discussion Papers 12519, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Kalcheva, Ivalina & Smith, Janet Kiholm & Smith, Richard L., 2020. "Institutional investment and the changing role of public equity markets: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Aldatmaz, Serdar & Brown, Greg W. & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli, 2023. "Determinants of International Buyout Investments," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 875-913, March.
    5. Paolo Finaldi Russo & Fabio Parlapiano & Daniele Pianeselli & Ilaria Supino, 2020. "Firms’ listings: what is new? Italy versus the main European stock exchanges," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 555, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    6. Michael Ewens & Joan Farre-Mensa, 2020. "The Deregulation of the Private Equity Markets and the Decline in IPOs," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(12), pages 5463-5509.
    7. Bustamante, Maria Cecilia & Zucchi, Francesca, 2023. "Innovation, industry equilibrium, and discount rates," Working Paper Series 2835, European Central Bank.
    8. Hamdani, Assaf & Lauterbach, Beni & Mugerman, Yevgeny, 2020. "Reservation prices in shareholders’ response to freeze-out tender offers," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Thomas Chemmanur & Jie (Jack) He & Xiao (Shaun) Ren & Tao Shu, 2020. "The Disappearing IPO Puzzle: New Insights from Proprietary U.S. Census Data on Private Firms," Working Papers 20-20, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    10. Fu, Jiangtao & Ogura, Yoshiaki, 2019. "Are Japanese companies less risky and less profitable than US companies? Evidence from a matched sample," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Denis, David J. & McKeon, Stephen B., 2021. "Persistent negative cash flows, staged financing, and the stockpiling of cash balances," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 293-313.
    12. Michael Ewens & Joan Farre-Mensa, 2022. "Private or Public Equity? The Evolving Entrepreneurial Finance Landscape," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 271-293, November.
    13. Aggarwal, Dhruv & Eldar, Ofer & Hochberg, Yael V. & Litov, Lubomir P., 2022. "The rise of dual-class stock IPOs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 122-153.
    14. Hege, Ulrich & Zhang, Yifei, 2022. "Activism Waves and the Market for Corporate Assets," TSE Working Papers 22-1397, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    15. Perotti, Enrico & Döttling, Robin, 2019. "Redistributive Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 13984, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Baxamusa, Mufaddal & Jalal, Abu, 2023. "The decline in stock exchange listed firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 295-317.
    17. Lattanzio, Gabriele & Megginson, William L. & Sanati, Ali, 2023. "Dissecting the listing gap: Mergers, private equity, or regulation?," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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