board of directors, corporate governance, endogeneity, firm value, women,

Women, Board of directors, Market reaction, G30, G34, G38,

We find evidence of income-increasing earnings management in Malaysian IPOs, which occurs primarily for IPOs during a period of severe economic stress (the East Asian crisis). Within the high ownership concentration Malaysian market, post-IPO control concerns also appear to constrain IPO earnings management: owners seem willing to accept reduced IPO proceeds and signaling opportunities to increase the likelihood of retaining control of the company post-IPO. The requirement to provide a profit guarantee does not seem to greatly affect earnings management. IPO companies engaging in aggressive income-increasing earnings management have significantly worse market-based performance than their more conservative counterparts, but again only for IPOs issued during the economic crisis period. Overall, the results suggest that personal liquidity concerns are an important factor in IPO decisions during the economic crisis. Professor of Accounting and Finance at the University of Stirling. We appreciate the very helpful, constructive comments from Rashad Abdel-Khalik (the editor) and the two anonymous referees who have contributed significantly in helping improve the structure of the paper and the arguments therein. We have also benefited from the comments of Chris Veld, participants at the EAA Annual Conference at University College Dublin and the BAA Annual Conference at Royal Holloway, University of London. The financial support of the Malaysian government (JPA) and the Universiti Utara Malaysia is gratefully acknowledged (for Nurwati A. Ahmad-Zaluki). We thank the Public Information Centre, Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (Bursa Malaysia) for the usage of the library and Brahim Saadouni from the University of Manchester for the provision of his PACAP database and his collection of Malaysian prospectuses. The usual disclaimer applies. JEL classification: G32 Earnings management in Malaysian IPOs: the EastAsian crisis, ownership control and post-IPO performance AbstractWe find evidence of income-increasing earnings management in Malaysian IPOs, which occurs primarily for IPOs during a period of severe economic stress (the East Asian crisis). Within the high ownership concentration Malaysian market, post-IPO control concerns also appear to constrain IPO earnings management: owners seem willing to accept reduced IPO proceeds and signaling opportunities to increase the likelihood of retaining control of the company post-IPO. The requirement to provide a profit guarantee does not seem to greatly affect earnings management. IPO companies engaging in aggressive incomeincreasing earnings management have significantly worse market-based performance than their more conservative counterparts, but again only for IPOs issued during the economic crisis period. Overall, the results suggest that personal liquidity concerns are an important factor in IPO decisions during the economic crisis. JEL classification: G32

We find evidence of income-increasing earnings management in Malaysian IPOs, which occurs primarily for IPOs during a period of severe economic stress (the East Asian crisis). Within the high ownership concentration Malaysian market, post-IPO control concerns also appear to constrain IPO earnings management: owners seem willing to accept reduced IPO proceeds and signaling opportunities to increase the likelihood of retaining control of the company post-IPO. The requirement to provide a profit guarantee does not seem to greatly affect earnings management. IPO companies engaging in aggressive income-increasing earnings management have significantly worse market-based performance than their more conservative counterparts, but again only for IPOs issued during the economic crisis period. Overall, the results suggest that personal liquidity concerns are an important factor in IPO decisions during the economic crisis. Professor of Accounting and Finance at the University of Stirling. We appreciate the very helpful, constructive comments from Rashad Abdel-Khalik (the editor) and the two anonymous referees who have contributed significantly in helping improve the structure of the paper and the arguments therein. We have also benefited from the comments of Chris Veld, participants at the EAA Annual Conference at University College Dublin and the BAA Annual Conference at Royal Holloway, University of London. The financial support of the Malaysian government (JPA) and the Universiti Utara Malaysia is gratefully acknowledged (for Nurwati A. Ahmad-Zaluki). We thank the Public Information Centre, Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (Bursa Malaysia) for the usage of the library and Brahim Saadouni from the University of Manchester for the provision of his PACAP database and his collection of Malaysian prospectuses. The usual disclaimer applies. JEL classification: G32 Earnings management in Malaysian IPOs: the EastAsian crisis, ownership control and post-IPO performance AbstractWe find evidence of income-increasing earnings management in Malaysian IPOs, which occurs primarily for IPOs during a period of severe economic stress (the East Asian crisis). Within the high ownership concentration Malaysian market, post-IPO control concerns also appear to constrain IPO earnings management: owners seem willing to accept reduced IPO proceeds and signaling opportunities to increase the likelihood of retaining control of the company post-IPO. The requirement to provide a profit guarantee does not seem to greatly affect earnings management. IPO companies engaging in aggressive incomeincreasing earnings management have significantly worse market-based performance than their more conservative counterparts, but again only for IPOs issued during the economic crisis period. Overall, the results suggest that personal liquidity concerns are an important factor in IPO decisions during the economic crisis. JEL classification: G32

This paper investigates the long run share price performance of 454 Malaysian IPOs during the period 1990 to 2000. In contrast with developed markets, significant over performance is found for equally-weighted event time CARs and buy-and-hold returns using two market benchmarks, though not for value-weighted returns or using a matched company benchmark. The significant abnormal performance also disappears under the calendar-time approach using the Fama-French (1993) three factor model. While the long run performance of Main and Second Board IPOs does not differ, the year of listing, issue proceeds and initial returns are found to be performance-related.