Kavita Wadhwa

Institutional Investors and Stock Liquidity: Evidence from Indian Stock Market:

The main aim of this article is to examine the relation between institutional ownership and stock liquidity. Using a large sample of Indian firm data for the period 2001–2012, we estimate two liquidity measures, Amihud illiquidity and HL-spread. We find that institutional ownership is negatively related to the stock liquidity. We also find that the negative institutional ownership–stock liquidity relation is mostly driven by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and Bank ownership. Conversely, retail ownership is positively related to the stock liquidity. Importantly, we find that institutional investors are more likely to hold liquid stocks. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the level of institutional ownership proxies for informed investors, while they trade liquid stock to reduce price impact cost.

Market timing and pseudo market timing: an empirical examination of IPOs in India

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of market timing and pseudo market timing on equity issuance decisions of IPOs in an emerging economy – India. Indian new issues market provides a perfect setting to test market timing against pseudo market timing due to two reasons. First, the US literature shows that most underpriced IPOs are highly overvalued and in India, the authors have the evidence of underpricing of IPOs. But whether Indian IPOs are overvalued or not it is yet to be tested. Second, majority of IPOs were issued in India only after the 1991 economic reforms which may signal the evidence for pseudo market timing hypothesis. Design/methodology/approach The authors use direct test to examine the impact of market timing and pseudo market timing variables on the IPO activity. The direct tests of market timing and pseudo market timing hypotheses are based on the positive relation of market timing variables and market conditions variables with IPO activity. The authors examine the long-run performance of IPOs by using the calendar-time regression approach to test market timing against pseudo market timing. This serves as indirect test of market timing and pseudo market timing. Evidence of market timing using indirect test shows that there is a decline in the long-run stock performance of IPOs. Findings The results show that in India, firms issue equity not just due to market conditions but they also issue equity in order to time the market. The results of market timing are also supported by the calendar-time approach results. However, the authors find that the evidence of market timing is stronger for hot issue markets as compared to cold issue markets. Originality/value This is the first study to comprehensively examine market timing and pseudo market timing using direct and indirect tests for an emerging market context.

Reallocation of IPO shares: emerging market evidence

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the reallocation of initial public offering (IPO) shares to retail investors, non-institutional buyers (NIBs) and qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). The authors examine how the reallocation process is related to the pricing decision of the underwriter. The authors also examine the long-run performance of the IPOs classified on the basis of the highest reallocation by retail investors, NIBs and QIBs. Design/methodology/approach The authors use regression analysis as well as 2SLS and three-stage least squares models to test the hypotheses. For long-run performance analysis, the authors adopt Carhart’s (1997) four-factor model. Findings First, the authors provide evidence that the reallocation of IPO shares for retail investors, NIBs and QIBs is frequent. Second, all three categories of investors are treated differently in the reallocation of underpriced shares. Third, the authors find that the reallocation and pricing strategies are interdependent and both the strategies are used by the underwriter to reward and favor retail investors for showing high level of demand. The authors find that in India, underwriters reward retail investors. Lastly, even though underwriters favor retail investors for reallocation, the authors find that IPOs which receive highest reallocation to retail investors perform poorly in the long run. Originality/value This paper is the first paper to show evidence of reallocation of IPO shares by underwriters for an emerging market. The paper is different from other papers as the regulatory regime present in the Indian markets is different from other markets.

Underpricing, long-run performance and secondary-market liquidity: an empirical examination of Indian IPO market

In this paper, we study the underpricing, long-run performance of IPOs and the impact of underpricing on secondary market liquidity of IPOs which were issued in India during the period 2000-2008. The average underpricing for Indian IPOs is 37%. Uncertainty, information asymmetry and investor optimism are the factors which explain underpricing. The IPOs which take more time in getting listed on stock exchange after the close of the issue have higher underpricing. In the case of big IPOs, mature firms have less underpricing and the IPOs which have more lead managers have more underpricing. Calendar-time factor regression results show that IPOs underperform in the long-run. However, underperformance is more for big and more oversubscribed IPOs than that of small and less oversubscribed IPOs respectively. IPOs which are more underpriced in the primary market are more liquid in the secondary market and this relation holds for all the measures of liquidity used in the study.