Long-run performance of initial public offerings: The evidence for Switzerland

We estimate the underpricing and long-run performance of Swiss initial public offerings (IPOs) from 1983 to 2000. The average market adjusted initial return is 34.97%. To examine the long-run performance of Swiss IPOs, we compute buy-and-hold abnormal returns, skewness-adjusted wealth ratios, and cumulative abnormal returns using 120 months of secondary market returns. In contrast to previous findings for the U.S. and Germany, we do not find strong evidence for a distinct IPO effect. We attribute long-run underperformance to the fact that IPO firms tend to be small firms. It virtually vanishes when we use a small capitalization index as a benchmark. In spite of distinct economic implications and statistical properties, our basic results are similar for all performance measures applied.

The Nestlé crash

On November 17, 1988, the board of directors of Nestlé AG decided to allow foreign investors to hold Nestlé registered stock, reversing a longstanding practice. This decision had a tremendous impact on the prices of the firm's three classes of common stock, as well as on the prices of several other corporations traded on the Zürich stock exchange. These price changes can be explained by the hypothesis that demand curves slope down.

Hand in hand: public endorsement of climate change mitigation and adaptation

This research investigated how an individual’s endorsements of mitigation and adaptation relate to each other, and how well each of these can be accounted for by relevant social psychological factors. Based on survey data from two European convenience samples (N = 616 / 309) we found that public endorsements of mitigation and adaptation are strongly associated: Someone who is willing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) is also willing to prepare for climate change impacts (adaptation). Moreover, people endorsed the two response strategies for similar reasons: People who believe that climate change is real and dangerous, who have positive attitudes about protecting the environment and the climate, and who perceive climate change as a risk, are willing to respond to climate change. Furthermore, distinguishing between (spatially) proximal and distant risk perceptions suggested that the idea of portraying climate change as a proximal (i.e., local) threat might indeed be effective in promoting personal actions. However, to gain endorsement of broader societal initiatives such as policy support, it seems advisable to turn to the distant risks of climate change. The notion that “localising” climate change might not be the panacea for engaging people in this domain is discussed in regard to previous theory and research.

Inseparable, incapable, or invisible: Why public organizations award no-bid contracts

No-bid contracting is a highly prevalent practice in public procurement of technology services. Alt-hough no-bid contracting is a substantial problem since it reduces competition and welfare, the litera-ture lacks theoretical explanations and empirical tests for why public organizations award no-bid con-tracts. In this paper, we propose three theoretical explanations for no-bid contracting, drawing on transaction cost economics, organizational learning, and institutional theory. We also present how we test these explanations using a comprehensive sample of public procurement transactions. We expect to contribute theoretical explanations for no-bid contracting and practical implications for policy-makers.

Public Governance durch Open Government: Zwei sich ergaenzende Ansaetze fuer die staatliche Aufgabenerfuellung der Zukunft

Waehrend zu Public Governance eine breite wissenschaftliche Debatte existiert und die Analyse staatlicher Aufgabeerfuellung davon profitiert, so steht die praxisnahe Umsetzung weniger im Zentrum der wissenschaftlichen Betrachtungen. Open Government hingegen entwickelt sich als relevante Praktikerbewegung ohne in die wissenschaftliche Diskussion eingeflossen zu sein. Dieser Artikel verbindet die beiden bislang unabhaengig voneinander existierenden Ansaetze und zeigt den Mehrwert von Open Government zur Umsetzung von Public Governance auf.

Human Capital and New Venture Performance: The Moderating Role of Social Relations

With whom should entrepreneurs create their firms in order to enhance nascent venture performance? Conventional wisdom suggests that the stronger human capital and social relations in nascent venture teams are, the better the nascent venture’s performance. We draw from social embeddedness literature, however, and argue that the positive effect of team members’ human capital on three different dimensions of nascent venture performance is weaker when team members exhibit strong social relations. Our analysis of 488 nascent venture teams in the PSED II dataset confirms our predictions, showing that nascent ventures of teams with strong human capital but weaker social relations exhibit the best performance. The study thus offers valuable contributions particularly to literature on entrepreneurial teams the determinants of new venture performance.