“Why Are Fewer Companies Going Public?”

*** Click here to read the event summary report ***

*** This Event was by invitation only ***

(Attendance was open to the participants of the Baltic Economic Conference.)

The Roundtable focused on the reasons and implications of fewer companies going public. The steep decline in initial public offerings in the U.S. has raised concerns about reduced opportunities for the general public to save for the future. The discussion revolved around the following questions: How to incentivize companies to go public and at the same time do not start the race to the bottom with respect to disclosure standards and compliance? Do boards escape short-term pressure from the market by going public with limited voting right shares? Are companies staying private longer? Do institutional investors encourage the long-term sustainability of their portfolio companies? Are index funds sufficiently motivated to provide responsible stewardship of assets with respect to corporate governance? Can index inclusion serve as a boost for stock market activity in such frontier stock markets as the Baltics?

Organisers

Marco Becht, Solvay Brussels School, ECGI and CEPR

Anete Pajuste, Stockholm School of Economics (Riga) and ECGI

Supported By