The objective of this doctoral dissertation is to extend the existing knowledge in the area of Corporate Governance in the region of Central Europe. Specifically, a study focuses on companies entering the public market and examines whether board structure and diversity have an impact on the success of the Initial Public Offering. The dissertation is divided into several parts. Firstly, theory of Corporate Governance and Signaling theory, explaining the potential influence of the board characteristics on the public offering outcome, are introduced. The following is an extensive literature review related to each of the selected variables. In the analytical part of the thesis, methods of statistical analysis are employed to verify the hypotheses and the results are discussed considering the findings of prior studies.

The czech capital market is currently rarely used by the domestic enterprises for obtaining financial resources, although in the world this way of obtaining finance is common. There were regulatory changes in the czech capital market, but despite this partial liberalization, it has not increased interest of czech companies on issuing of shares or bonds. The focus of this dissertation is therefore a comparison of the conditions for corporate financing in countries with developed capital market and identifing any differences. The work also examines the evolution of corporate finance on the capital markets in different continents, influence the IPO on the financial health of the company and analyzes the impact of the amendment of the Act on Bonds.

Purpose: This study is made to analyze and examine effects of an IPO before and after a stock is introduced on the market, and if the age of the company makes a difference on the day it becomes listed. And if it could be associated with an improved financial performance through several assumptions. Theory: This study is based on three different theories, the Pecking Order Theory, Agency Cost Theory and Window-Dressing Theory, but could also be supported by previously recognized research. Method: The theories subjected of the study is based on quantitative elements of deductive and theory-testing approaches in different angles of the company's financial status.  Empiries: 54 companies were involved in a study of Initial Public Offering in the years of 2014 and 2015, the selection of the 54 companies were divided in two groups depending on which stock market they were listed on. We then made further research based on three questions. Is getting listed on the stock market an advantage for financial growth? If the age of the company gives it an advantage in financial growth when it gets listed on the stock market? Does it affect the financial growth depending on where the company got listed? Conclusion:Generally we can see a connection between choice of trading venue and the company's age of an IPO does affect the impact of financial growth and performance. / Syfte: Studien avser att analysera effekter av en börsnotering innan och efter, samt om ett bolags ålder vid noteringsdagen kan associeras med en förbättrad finansiell prestation genom olika antaganden. Teori: Denna studie utgår från tre teorier, Pecking Order Theory, Agency Cost Theory och Window-Dressing Theory, men även en referensram av tidigare forskning.  Metod: Studien utgår från en kvantitativ ansats med inslag av deduktiv- och teoriprövande ansatser.  Empiri: Ett urval bestående av 54 bolag studerades utifrån deras börsnotering som skedde år 2014 och 2015. Urvalet av 54 bolag delades upp i två grupper beroende på vilken marknadsplats som de var listade på. Därefter gjordes en vidare undersökning baserat på tre forskningsfrågor. Leder en börsnotering till tillväxt i bolaget? Påverkar valet av handelsplats ett bolags tillväxt vid börsnotering? Är bolagets ålder vid noteringsdagen associerat med förbättrad finansiell prestation? Slutsats: IPO har generellt sett en påverkan på bolags finansiella prestation. Beroende på val av handelsplats gav den finansiella prestationen olika utslag. Samband mellan ett bolags ålder vid en IPO verkade även ha en inverkan på den ekonomiska tillväxten.

The main aim of this dissertation is to identify the factors influencing the decision-making of enterprises on entering the capital market in selected CEE countries and formulate recommendations for further development of this form of financing. The key methodological tool is the collection of primary data by means of a questionnaire in which respondents (usually in the CFOs position) expressed their views on the issues related to internal and external factors affecting IPO activity. The results of the questionnaire survey show that the strongest motives for IPO implementation are the ability to raise capital to finance investment opportunities, improve publicity and image of the company, reduce debt, and be recognized by a relevant financial community as an important company. Among the barriers that most affect IPO implementation are the obligation to disclose company information that is key to a competitive advantage, asymmetry of information between external investors and the company, the interest in retaining decision-making control over the company, and the existence of alternative administratively less complex capital resources at the time of implementation of IPO. As per CFOs macroeconomic factors that have the greatest impact on IPO are favorable conditions in the stock market, favorable conditions in the sector in which the company operates, favorable GDP growth, and the use of banking loan at a relatively low interest rate. The results of the dissertation are the basis for the formulation of recommendations for potential IPO candidates.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration in financial activities is a crucial topic that is gaining importance in financial markets. During the years, many studies have been conducted about Initial Public Offering (IPO) and underpricing since they are fundamental aspects of firms’ lifecycle. Nevertheless, none of these studies have appropriately related firms’ ESG characteristics to IPO underpricing. In order to fill this knowledge gap, this thesis’s purpose is to investigate whether the ESG factors of a firm have effects on its IPO underpricing in the U.S stock market. The U.S has been chosen as it is the biggest stock market in the world and because of the quality and reliability of the data available for this country.  A quantitative study is applied to investigate the relationship between ESG characteristics of the firms and the level of underpricing. First, to obtain the measurement of the ESG level of the pre-IPO firms, we have conducted two textual analysis of IPO prospectus, namely, term frequency and sentiment analysis. These indicators aim to show the disclosure level of ESG factors and whenever ESG is perceived negatively or positively by the market. Successively, the multiple regression is performed for each ESG indicator to find which measures have the analytical abilities to explain IPO underpricing. Based on the multiple regression results, we can conclude that the frequency of environmental & governance terms occurred in IPO prospectus, the negative tone, and the overall sentiment of the environmental context are significantly explaining IPO underpricing. These results have given meaningful answers for our research. The market does not perceive the social factors of a firm in the IPO context. On the other hand, environmental and governance aspects still attract the market’s attention in different ways. The market is concerned about the disclosure level of the governance activities and whether these activities are sufficiently mentioned in the prospectus. Meanwhile, the market takes into serious consideration the environmental activities of a firm by assessing the qualities of these activities. Moreover, the market is more sensitive to the negative information about environmental content than positive information in the IPO context. The textual analysis methods applied in this thesis have some limitations. However, this study has the reliability to confirm that some companies’ ESG factors affect IPO underpricing. As a consequence, it is possible to state that the market cares about  ESG issues.

The Swedish market has over the past couple of years seen a large increase in companies going public through an IPO. At the same time the capital on the private equity market is increasing for each year which enables companies to stay private longer. Our research focuses on two main areas. First, we investigate if companies that enter the public market at an early stage in the company life cycle have worse aftermarket performance than companies that wait to go public. In our research we will define companies that went public at an early stage as younger than six years at the time of the IPO, based on Brown & Wiles (2015) research, and companies that delayed an IPO as older than six years at the time of the offering. The second area investigates whether the large capital increase on the private equity market have affected the long-run aftermarket performance of IPOs.  Our dataset consists of 746 Swedish IPOs from four different Swedish stock exchanges. We will collect long-run aftermarket performance data from companies that conducted an IPO between the years 2003-2018. The long-run aftermarket performance will be measured over a three-year period. Both buy and hold abnormal returns (BHAR) and monthly abnormal returns are used to analyze the aftermarket performance of the IPO firms. Our main findings are that Swedish IPOs generally underperform the reference market index in the long run. Additionally, we find that the underperformance is generated by companies that conduct an early IPO, which makes us question the IPO readiness of these young companies. We also show that profitability is a key determinant for greater IPO aftermarket performance. Lastly, we do not provide any support that the increase in capital on the private equity markets have any effect on the IPO aftermarket performance. However, the results indicate that companies who went public after the increase of capital perform worse. In our research we contribute with practical variables for retail investors to focus on when investing in IPOs and provide companies with useful information on how to increase the chances of a successful IPO.

This study examines the relationship between firm innovation and Initial Public Offering (IPO) underpricing in the Swedish stock market by examining 287 firms that went public on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm and Nasdaq First North during the years 2010 – 2020. An OLS regression model is utilized to analyze the relationship between underpricing, measured as the initial returns, and firm innovation, measured as patents and Research and Development (R&D). The average initial returns for the sample were (+8,16 %) showing that IPOs are, on average, underpriced in the Swedish stock market. While the connection between patents and underpricing was negligible, the results indicated that firms that reported R&D expenditures separately, specifying how much of their expenditures were spent on R&D, experienced a small decrease in IPO underpricing. Also, a slightly larger decrease in IPO underpricing was found for the firms that both had patents and reported their IPO expenditures separately. Thus, these results indicate that firms with a higher level of innovation are “leaving less money on the table”.

The prospect of earning extraordinary returns drives the allure of investing in new companies through IPOs. However, this approach may be flawed due to market conditions, information asymmetry, and behavioral biases. Past research supports evidence of the long-term underperformance of IPOs compared to the market index. Despite the substantial research on IPO performance, limited studies have focused on the long-term performance of IPOs in Sweden and among industries, particularly from 2010 to 2019. The study aims to address the existing knowledge gap and provide investors with insights into the long-term performance of Swedish IPOs and their associated industries. By analyzing IPOs, the study enhances the risk-reward understanding, informs retail investment decisions, and promotes stock market transparency in Sweden. The research employed a quantitative method with a deductive approach. Stock prices 12 and 36 months after the IPO date and prospect prices were collected as the data set. The data were analyzed using statistical applications to assess the significance of the research findings, employing a One-Sample T-test and Kruskal-Wallis H-test. The findings indicate that the IPOs in our sample underperformed the selected index, OMXSGI, with an average underperformance of 7.84% for 12 months and 12.32% for 36 months. The results are in line with previous research of similar markets as Sweden. Additionally, performance varied among industries, with the technology sector performing the best and consumer staples performing the worst.

As technology accelerates the dynamism in the global markets, companies are forced to adapt to the changing landscape. A company’s success in navigating the external environment depends on their dynamic capabilities. One of the most critical moments for many companies’ is when they conduct an IPO. Research into how an IPO affects a firm is necessary since newly listed firms have been shown to underperform compared to private firms. Dynamic capabilities have been observed to be of critical importance for IPO firms and previous research suggests that an IPO changes processes that affects a firm's ability to develop dynamic capabilities. This study explores how the development of dynamic capabilities is affected by changes to microfoundations following an IPO. The study gains insight into the subject by conducting interviews with executives from Swedish firms that underwent the IPO process during 2018-2020. The empirical findings indicate that seven microfoundations are affected by going public. The study contributes to prevailing literature by laying the groundwork for future research on how a firm's ability to develop dynamic capabilities is affected by going public and it has the potential to be a practical tool when making strategic decisions during and after an IPO process.

This thesis examines the initial performance of private equity-backed IPOs in relation to non-private-equity-backed IPOs listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and Nasdaq First North Growth Market during the years 2011-2021. It further measures the effect of independent variables on the return after the first day- and first week of trading as well as if the first day performance impacts the first week performance. Previous research finds that IPOs in general are underpriced, and that private equity-backed IPOs tend to perform poorer than non-private-equity-backed IPOs on the first day of trading. Previous research further finds that underpriced IPOs have poor aftermarket performance since the issues usually decline during the first couple of days of trading, subsequently converging towards a lower price rapidly after listing, making it less profitable to invest in an IPO in the aftermarket. Univariate and multivariate analyses test this and the findings indicate that the first day return impacts the first week performance. It also finds that larger private equity-backed IPOs are underpriced and show poorer first day performance compared with larger non private-equity-backed-IPOs. Yet, this is not found to hold for the total sample covering all offering sizes. However, our findings cannot confirm that private equity-backed IPOs would show poorer performance compared with non-private-equity-backed IPOs after the first week of trading. Among the independent variables, the nominal offer price was found to have a significant impact on the first day return alongside with which stock exchange the company was listed on.