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The purpose of this paper was to examine whether or not the sponsor lock-up ratio, lock-up period, regulation changes and interaction variable (oversubscription [OSR]) affected initial public offering (IPO) initial return.

A complete sample of 111 listed IPOs in Pakistan stock exchange from 1996 to 2018 was incorporated. Based on the cross-section data, this paper estimated using ordinary least square and quantile least square for robustness. In addition to that, this paper estimated the data using stepwise least square to inspect the signalling aspect of the lock-up ratio, lock-up period and regulation changes on IPO initial return.

This study showed that the lock-up ratio, lock-up period and regulatory changes had a positive impact on the IPO’s initial return. Furthermore, the assertion of interaction variable (regulation changes × OSR) and (lock-up period × OSR) was a negatively significant factor in influencing the IPO’s initial return. The results of this paper were robust to endogeneity bias.

The finding of this study proposed that sponsors of IPOs can be a strong signal of risk or quality, which was consistent with the signalling theory prediction. Concurrently, investors must be aware of the total proportions of lock-up ratio so that they can estimate the chances of getting the highest initial return on IPOs. From the regulators’ point of view, it is suggested that the lock-up ratio and the lock-up period should be determined with a deeper understanding and incorporated into the equity guidelines as it is evident that these factors are priced by the market.

Studies on the effect of sponsors have always been centred on well-recognized firms. Therefore, using the IPO samples listed in Pakistan, this paper contributes to the IPO literature by investigating the lock-up ratio of the sponsor, the lock-up period and the regulatory changes to the initial IPO return. Additionally, OSR has been introduced as an interaction variable among the sponsors’ lock-up period and regulations changes to explain the ongoing IPO initial return phenomenon.

In recent years, the number of high-rise buildings in Malaysia has been increasing. Therefore, it is essential to take evacuation into consideration especially for emergency conditions such as fire, explosion and natural disasters. This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the escape time in typical Malaysian high-rise residential buildings.

This work comprises simulation on three buildings around the Selangor area in Malaysia. Quantitative methodology is adopted using Pathfinder software to simulate the evacuation process and time of the three typical Malaysian high-rise residential buildings. Four parameters were studied namely, the occupant load density, walking speed of first and last occupants, average of evacuation time per floor for the three buildings and effect of placement of emergency staircase on travel time.

Findings show that 12 m² which is double the allowable occupants' density in Malaysia increases evacuation time by 67.9% while the placement of the emergency staircase on the left and middle section of a building significantly affects the evacuation time by 21.2%. In conclusion, from the simulation studies, it is recognized that a higher occupant's density affects the evacuation time.

This work could provide information on escape time for future construction of high-rise buildings in Malaysia. Hence, the specification and design of buildings could be reviewed based on the results obtained from this simulation. This information could be beneficial to the building regulators and developers thus enhancing the knowledge of building constructor and possible issues in the design of staircases, corridors and height of buildings.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of underwriter reputation on the valuation of Malaysian initial public offerings (IPOs).

This study employed cross-sectional multiple regression models to analyse the relationship between underwriter reputation and IPO valuation that included 466 IPOs listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2000 to 2017.

The results revealed that underwriter reputation had a significant negative association with IPO valuation. Firms that engaged the services of reputable underwriters had their IPO offer prices set lower than the intrinsic values during the listing. After incorporating firms' size, this study found a positive relationship between underwriter reputation and IPO valuation. Big firms (high quality) hired reputable underwriters for certification purposes as issuers were aware that the cost of hiring a reputable underwriter would be justified by increased transparency after listing. Therefore, firms that engaged reputable underwriters had approximately fair values since issuers assumed that the price would be close to the intrinsic value following enhanced transparency post-listing.

Future studies should focus on other non-financial factors, such as auditor reputation.

The present study provides new insights into the certification role of underwriters in valuing IPOs in the Malaysian market.

This study aims to investigate the valuation accuracy of Malaysian initial public offerings (IPOs) by using price-multiple methods.

Cross-sectional data including 467 IPOs listed on the Malaysian stock exchange were used for the period of 2000–2017. This study used univariate ordinary least square (OLS) regression to analyse the relationship between IPOs’ price-multiples and comparable firms’ price-multiples. The test of valuation accuracy was conducted via computing valuation errors by segregating the sample into two groups: fixed-price IPOs and book-built IPOs. Furthermore, multiple OLS regression was used to examine the influence of IPO valuation on underpricing.

The findings of the results suggested that IPOs price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-book (P/B) and price-to-sales (P/S) multiples were positively related to the median P/E, P/B and P/S multiples of five comparable firms matched by industry and revenues. The P/S multiple was shown to be the most significant valuation method, specifically in book-built IPOs. The findings indicated that those firms that had a lower valuation in comparison to the comparable firms were inclined to underprice their IPOs to allure investors to subscribe IPOs. In addition, book-built IPOs that had fair valuations were inclined to generate higher initial returns for investors.

The findings of this study observed implications for underwriters in avoiding the mis-valuation issue by considering the book-building mechanism.

This study attempted to explore the suitability of the valuation method to value IPOs in Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of privatized initial public offerings (IPOs) on flipping activity in the Pakistan IPO market.

This study sampled 95 IPOs listed on the Pakistan stock exchange over the period of 2000 to 2019. The ordinary least square technique and quantile regression were used to examine the impact of privatized IPO on flipping activity.

The present study finds that privatization affects flipping activity and creates a quality signal in Pakistan’s IPO market. The findings of this study also show that privatized IPOs were subjected to high levels of flipping activity compared to non-privatized IPOs. Additionally, investors’ demand has been found to moderate the relationship between privatized IPOs and flipping activity in Pakistan’s IPO market.

Based on the fact that the sample consists of a combination of privatized and non-privatized IPOs, the results provide valuable insight into factors that may lead to unusual trading behavior/flipping during the first day of listing.

Despite several studies on events (e.g. short- and long-term price performance) around IPO, there is little evidence on how privatized IPOs affect flipping activity, which is a high volume of trading immediately after listing.

This study aims to investigate the effect of Shariah-compliant status and Shariah regulation on initial public offering (IPO) underpricing in Pakistan.

Besides the ordinary least square’s method, this study used quantile least squares as a robust approach and stepwise regression for further analysis to investigate the underpricing phenomenon in Pakistan. Data of 84 IPOs listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange from January 2000 to December 2018 were collected to determine the impact of Shariah-compliant status and Shariah regulation on IPO underpricing.

Results of the study show that Shariah-compliant status has a negative relationship but Shariah regulation has a positive relationship with IPO underpricing. Hence, it is contended that Shariah-compliant firms have lower asset volatility and uncertainty than non-Shariah-compliant firms because of less information asymmetry, resulting in lower underpricing. These Shariah-compliant firms provide signals of high-quality IPOs as they must comply with the strict guidelines issued by the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan in addition to being considered as amicable by investors. Further, this study suggests that investors are more attracted to Shariah-compliant firms than non-Shariah-compliant ones.

This study’s offers limited consideration of nonfinancial and financial characteristics that could influence the decision of investors to subscribe to IPOs. Besides, future studies could consider the screening benchmarks; for instance, debt and cash may explain the intensity of IPO initial return in Pakistan.

The present work empirically investigated the influence of Shariah-compliant status and Shariah regulation on IPO underpricing in Pakistan’s IPO market, which has been scarcely covered in the existing literature.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Shariah-compliant status and the presence of information asymmetry on investors’ demand for initial public offerings (IPOs) in Malaysia.

The data regarding 260 IPOs dated for a duration of 11 years were acquired from the websites of Bursa Malaysia and Malaysian Issuing House. In evaluating the association between IPO oversubscription and the independent variables in this study, multivariate and quantile regression analyses were implemented.

It was found that Shariah-compliant status (DSHARIAH) had a significant positive relationship with IPO oversubscription. With this, it was indicated that Shariah-compliant status gains investors’ interests in subscribing to IPOs as these shares could be distributed to a wider group of investors. In the case of the proxies of information asymmetry, although firm size posed significant effects on IPO oversubscription, the effects were negative. Meanwhile, institutional investors posed significant positive effects on IPO oversubscription. Furthermore, it was indicated from the negative effects of firm size that less subscription is received by large firms which are perceived to possess lower information asymmetry from the investors. This is owing to the less underpricing provided by the issuers for their IPOs. However, it was indicated from the significant positive association between institutional investors and IPO oversubscription that the participation in the IPO among institutional investors would enhance the enthusiasm of investors for a specific stock and increase the probability of IPO oversubscription. With this, the winner’s curse hypothesis was supported.

It is recommended that future studies investigate the compliance aspect, specifically the financial and nonfinancial aspects which may affect investors’ decision-making process for their investment.

With the availability of this study’s indicators in the prospectus, the findings of this study have provided useful insights for an issuer and underwriter to ensure a good subscription of its issuance.

The findings of this study have provided further comprehension to investors regarding the essential information found in the prospectus during the decision-making process done for IPO subscription.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first articles which have proven the effects of Shariah-compliant status and the presence of information asymmetry on IPO investors’ demand.

The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between board size, board independence and triple bottom line (TBL) reporting. The TBL report consists of three components, namely, environmental, social and economic indices.

This study’s sample consists of top 50 listed companies from the year 2017 to 2019 on Tadawul Stock Exchange. Ordinary least squares, quantile least squares and robust least squares are used to investigate the associations between board characteristics and TBL reporting, including its separate components.

The authors find a significant negative association between TBL reporting and board independence. Social bottom line is significantly and negatively related to board size and board independence. Results indicate that board independence negatively influences the TBL disclosure of companies. Therefore, companies are encouraged to embrace TBL reporting. This suggests that businesses should improve the quality of their reporting while ensuring that voluntary disclosures reflect an accurate and fair view in order to preserve a positive relationship with stakeholders.

The present study explains the evidence for the determinants of the TBL in Saudi Arabia.

This study aims to investigate the link between audit committee characteristics and the liquidity of initial public offerings (IPOs) in Malaysia, which is an emerging economy in Southeast Asia. Another purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of the revised Malaysian code of corporate governance (MCCG) on the link between audit committee characteristics and IPO liquidity.

The final sample consists of 304 Malaysian IPOs listed in 2002–2017. This study uses ordinary least squares regression method to analyse the data. To confirm this study’s findings, a hierarchical or four-stage regression analysis is used to compare the t-values of the main and moderate regression models.

The findings show that audit committee characteristics (size and director independence) have a positive and significant relationship with IPO liquidity. Also, the revised MCCG positively moderates the relationship between audit committee characteristics and IPO liquidity.

This study’s findings indicate that companies with higher audit committee independence have a more effective monitoring mechanism that mitigates information asymmetry, thus reducing adverse selection issues during share trading.

Policymakers could use the results of this study in developing policies for IPO liquidity improvements. Additionally, the findings are useful for traders and investors in their investment decision-making. For companies, the findings highlight the crucial role of the audit committee as part of the control system that monitors corporate governance.

To the authors’ knowledge, this work is a pioneering study in the context of a developing country, specifically Malaysia that investigates the impact of audit committee characteristics on IPO liquidity. Previously, the link between corporate governance and IPO liquidity had not been investigated in Malaysia. This study also contributes to the IPO literature by providing empirical evidence regarding the moderating effect of the revised MCCG on the relationship between audit committee characteristics and IPO liquidity.

This study aims to examine the impact of sponsors and democratic government on the flipping activity of initial public offerings (IPOs).

Based on the sample of 95 IPOs listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange between January 2000 and December 2019, this study used multiple cross-sectional regression to examine the relationship between sponsors and democratic government on flipping activity.

The findings indicate a significant negative association between sponsors and the flipping activity of IPOs. Sponsor(s) signal quality by trying to share accurate information about company values. As a result, the confidence of rational investors in the company’s future prospectus increases and they hold their shares for future gains, which reduces the flipping activity. Also, democratic government, along with sponsors' participation, provides investors with liquidity immediately after listing.

The findings of this study have implications for investors as they may assist them make informed decisions about whether or not to invest in an IPO with high sponsor(s) ownership. In addition, issuers should consider the disclosure of sponsor information(s) as such information may directly affect the first day’s trading volumes.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research study that explores the correlation between sponsors and democratic government and flipping activity of IPO. This study is important for investors and issuers.