Abstract
The market for initial public offerings (IPOs) — the first sale of private firms’ stock to the public — is notorious for its swings from peaks to valleys. This paper argues that these swings reflect serious flaws in the IPO scheme, and that U.S. capital markets should move toward a more stable alternative. Specifically, this paper argues for a two-tier market system in which new stock issuers initially participate in a less-regulated private capital market of accredited investors and then, if they choose, they can move to a more regulated, broader public market. Likewise, firms currently participating in the public market can choose to move to the accredited investor market. Such a scheme would harness private markets to promote the public good while simultaneously eliminating the public bad of IPOs.
Disciplines
Law | Law and Economics | Public Law and Legal Theory | Securities Law
Date of this Version
10-16-2012
Working Paper Citation
Pritchard, Adam C., "Facebook, the JOBS Act, and Abolishing IPOs" (2012). Law & Economics Working Papers. 56.
https://repository.law.umich.edu/law_econ_current/56