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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of pricing mechanism on initial public offerings (IPOs) oversubscription in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach This study used cross-sectional data to analyse 85 listed IPOs on the Pakistan stock exchange during the period of 2000-2017 to assess hypotheses related to influential determinants of IPO oversubscription. Accordingly, ordinary least square, robust regression and quantile regression approaches were applied in this study to evaluate the factors that influenced oversubscription. Findings The outcome displayed pricing mechanism is negatively significant with an oversubscription of IPOs. This indicates firms using the fixed-price mechanism signalled higher information asymmetry and uncertainty in their value. Thus, investors are aware that they will be offset with underpricing, and it is expected the demand will be higher for the particular IPOs. Research limitations/implications This study is entirely focused on the available information of prospectus that should not be ignored by potential investors at the time of subscription of IPO. Therefore, the study contributes to extending the available literature in signalling theory whereby issuers should consider using the book-building pricing mechanism in enhancing the efficiency of the IPO offer price during the listing. Originality/value This paper provides evidence for the determinants of the IPO oversubscription.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Shariah-compliant status and the presence of information asymmetry on investors’ demand for initial public offerings (IPOs) in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The data regarding 260 IPOs dated for a duration of 11 years were acquired from the websites of Bursa Malaysia and Malaysian Issuing House. In evaluating the association between IPO oversubscription and the independent variables in this study, multivariate and quantile regression analyses were implemented. Findings It was found that Shariah-compliant status (DSHARIAH) had a significant positive relationship with IPO oversubscription. With this, it was indicated that Shariah-compliant status gains investors’ interests in subscribing to IPOs as these shares could be distributed to a wider group of investors. In the case of the proxies of information asymmetry, although firm size posed significant effects on IPO oversubscription, the effects were negative. Meanwhile, institutional investors posed significant positive effects on IPO oversubscription. Furthermore, it was indicated from the negative effects of firm size that less subscription is received by large firms which are perceived to possess lower information asymmetry from the investors. This is owing to the less underpricing provided by the issuers for their IPOs. However, it was indicated from the significant positive association between institutional investors and IPO oversubscription that the participation in the IPO among institutional investors would enhance the enthusiasm of investors for a specific stock and increase the probability of IPO oversubscription. With this, the winner’s curse hypothesis was supported. Research limitations/implications It is recommended that future studies investigate the compliance aspect, specifically the financial and nonfinancial aspects which may affect investors’ decision-making process for their investment. Practical implications With the availability of this study’s indicators in the prospectus, the findings of this study have provided useful insights for an issuer and underwriter to ensure a good subscription of its issuance. Social implications The findings of this study have provided further comprehension to investors regarding the essential information found in the prospectus during the decision-making process done for IPO subscription. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first articles which have proven the effects of Shariah-compliant status and the presence of information asymmetry on IPO investors’ demand.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify selected information from the prospectus that might signal the initial public offering (IPO) offer price. Design/methodology/approach This study uses cross-sectional data for a 14-year period from 2000 to 2014 in examining hypotheses relating to Shariah-compliant status, institutional investors, underwriter ranking and shareholder retention, with respect to their associations with the offer price of the IPOs. Further, this study uses ordinary least squares (OLS) for all models, including the models for both subsamples of Shariah- and non-Shariah-compliant IPOs. As for robustness, this study incorporates the quantile regression and quadratic model. Findings The results tend to provide support for the argument that firms with Shariah-compliant status reflect lower uncertainty and project better signalling of quality due to greater scrutiny by the government and thus are able to offer IPOs at higher prices. Similarly, firms with a higher proportion of shareholder retention indicate lower risks as insiders forego their options to diversify their portfolio, and hence could price their IPOs higher. Finally, the involvement of institutional investors and higher underwriter ranking could be used by firms to disregard information asymmetry, and therefore, the issuer might have to discount the IPO offer price. Research limitations/implications This study focuses solely on information in the prospectus that should not be disregarded by the investors in valuing the appropriateness of the IPO offer price. This study contributes in terms of providing a better understanding of the determinant factors of the IPO offer price of the firms which are Shariah-compliant. Originality/value This paper provides evidence for the determinants of the IPO offer price in a fixed pricing mechanism for both Shariah-and non-Shariah-compliant IPOs.

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