Going Public and the Internal Organization of the Firm
Daniel Bias, Benjamin Lochner, Stefan Obernberger, Merih Sevilir
Journal of Finance,
im Erscheinen
Abstract
We examine how firms adapt their organization when they go public. To conform with the requirements of public capital markets, we expect IPO firms to become more organized, making the firm more accountable and its human capital more easily replaceable. We find that IPO firms transform into a more hierarchical organization with smaller departments. Managerial oversight increases. Organizational functions dedicated to accounting, finance, information and communication, and human resources become much more prominent. Employee turnover is sizeable and directly related to changes in hierarchical layers. New hires are better educated, but younger and less experienced than incumbents, which reflects the staffing needs of a more hierarchical organization. Wage inequality increases as firms become more hierarchical. Overall, going public is associated with a comprehensive transformation of the firm's organization which becomes geared towards efficiently operating a public firm.
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Declining Free Lunch: State Capacity and Foregone Public Spending
Sarah Fritz, Lorenzo Incoronato, Catherine van der List
RFBerlin Discussion Paper,
Nr. 67,
2025
Abstract
This paper documents substantial fiscal waste in the context of one the world’s largest regional development programs – the EU Cohesion Policy. We study Italy, and find that 20% of funding commitments are never paid out and funneled into unfinished or never-started projects. In our setting, this happens for reasons unrelated to fiscal constraints – municipalities appear to simply leave money on the table. Foregone spending is more prevalent in Southern regions, but there is also stark variation across municipalities within regions. We show that such under-utilization of available funds is strongly associated with limited administrative capacity of local governments.
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Medienecho
Medienecho Januar 2026 Reint Gropp und Oliver Holtemöller: Warnung vor "desaströser Signalwirkung" für den Klimaschutz in: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Essen, 22.01.2026 Steffen…
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Research Profiles of the IWH Departments All doctoral students are allocated to one of the four research departments (Financial Markets – Laws, Regulations and Factor Markets –…
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Alumni IWH provides guidance and support in job placement after graduation, including letters of recommendation and career advice. Graduates have found placements in academia…
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Past Events 14. CompNet Annual Conference (Vilnius, 25-26 September 2025) The 14th CompNet Annual Conference, co-hosted with the Bank of Lithuania, took place on 25–26 September…
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1st CompNet Data User Conference
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Speed Projects Hier finden Sie die IWH EXplore Speed Projects chronologisch absteigend sortiert. 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2022 SPEED 2022/02 Competetiveness in…
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People Job Market Candidates Doctoral Students PhD Representatives Alumni Supervisors Lecturers Coordinators Job Market Candidates Tommaso Bighelli Job market paper: "The…
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