In this paper we compile and evaluate the research available on internal factors influencing the cost of equity capital. The topic has been extensively studied for the past few decades; however, the information is spread and is not accumulated. We begin by reiterating the reasons why information asymmetry drives financial decisions. Next, we review recent literature that focuses on financial disclosure and accounting information, i.e. internal factors that are directly connected with information asymmetry. In the remainder of our review we discuss a recent debate on the impact of corporate governance and social factors. Aside from theoretical contribution, the comprehensive literature review of existing studies results in formulation of a strategy how to decrease to cost of equity capital by means of internal factors adjustments. We believe that highlighting the key points in the debate will be beneficial for both academicians and practitioners who will be able to form an independent view of the approaches how to take influence on the cost of equity capital.

ABSTRACT. The article focuses on the problem of interdependences among Central European capital markets. The main aim of this research is to identify longterm interdependences among Austrian, Czech, Hungarian and Polish capital markets and the market of Germany. Additionally, the impact of short-term shocks on these markets is under evaluation. In the first step of the research the interdependencies among the capital markets in the years 1997-2015 were verified. For this purpose the DCC-GARCH model with the conditional t-distribution was used. In the second step, an analysis of cointegration for the interdependencies among the markets was carried out. The authors proposed to include conditional variances of the analysed markets as additional explanatory variables in the cointegration analysis. As the conditional variance most often reflects the impact of short-term shocks, the proposed approach allowed to take into account shortterm market shocks in the cointegration analysis. The results enabled to identify long-term path for the course of the interdependences among markets of Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The mentioned Central European capital markets make a group of markets characterized with similar long-term path, which are focused around the dominant market of Germany.

The objective of this study is to develop a qualitative model supporting chief financial officers (CFOs) while considering the timing of initial public offerings (IPOs) under conditions of underdeveloped capital markets, where decision making is often made under information shortage. A lack of adequate statistical data in connection with turbulently changing environment suggests that additional research is needed to develop new IPO timing models based not only on statistical analyses. We used a qualitative research approach based on trends, which are increasing, constant or decreasing. Firstly, we identified key variables influencing IPO timing, which have sufficient support in the relevant IPO academic literature, e.g. GDP growth rates, level of compliance, stock market returns, etc. Next, a qualitative model working with 9 variables was developed. The result is represented by 19 scenarios and their qualitative solutions. The transitional graph represents all possible transitions among the 19 scenarios. The main message of the findings presented is what scenarios can occur and what actions might be implemented by CFOs in order to increase the chances of IPO success. We believe that our findings provide valuable implications for local issuers, investment bankers, stock exchanges and macroeconomic policy makers.

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Increasing globalization contributes to the growing role primary capital markets play for raising external equity capital. This phenomenon is becoming more significant in both developed and emerging countries and influences the effectiveness of national economy. We survey 45 chief financial officers (CFOs) from not public and not financial companies operating in the Czech Republic and Poland to document the internal determinants of going public. We use statistical analyses and comparison with recent academic literature and empirical evidence to interpret the survey-gained data. First, the most important IPO motivations are enhanced publicity and reputation of the company and establishment of the firm´s market value. These benefits are expressed by CFOs across all firms and in both countries. A considerably larger number of CFOs is motivated by raising external equity capital. Surveyed companies tend to conduct an IPO in the expansion stage of their life cycle. Next, the significance of other going public determinants differs between Czech and Polish respondents and across companies varying in size and age. Third, our findings indicate that theories on IPO formulated for welldeveloped capital markets can explain going public determinants in smaller emerging markets. We suggest that our evidence can be a source of knowledge for enterprises while formulating new financial strategies. Furthermore, we also expect that survey results will be beneficial for investment bankers, stock exchanges and macroeconomic policy makers while discussing and designing incentives to attract more enterprises onto the primary capital markets under the specific conditions of the Czech Republic and Poland.