The Underpricing of Initial Public Offerings in the Philippines from 1987 to 1997

Abstract

In this paper we report returns for initial public offerings (IPOs) in the Philippines and investigate some characteristics found in other countries to affect returns, specifically offer size, firm age, and industry grouping. For a sample of 104 IPOs during the 11-year period 1987 through 1997, we find average initial returns of 22.69 percent. We do not find that offer size, firm age, or industry groupings affect IPO underpricing and conclude from our findings that underwriters who price Philippine IPOs face different regulatory policies, contractual mechanisms, market conditions than those present in other markets.