Below, a continuation of our bibliography of thought-provoking articles on issues related to right-sizing regulation, staying Private versus going public, and related topics:

The Economics of Primary Markets, Kathleen Weiss Hanley, March 15, 2017.  The paper discusses the public offering process, including the economics of IPOs, such as whether there is underpricing in IPOs, and considers, in this regard, the costs and benefits associated with the IPO bookbuilding process.  In assessing the factors associated with the decline in the number of IPOs, the paper discusses some trade-offs associated with going public versus relying on private offerings, which is very timely given the ongoing dialogue on this topic.

The JOBS Act and the Costs of Going Public, Susan Chaplinsky, Kathleen Weiss Hanley, and S. Katie Moon, January 2017.  The article concludes that there is little evidence that the JOBS Act has reduced the direct costs of going public.  However, there may be accommodations resulting from the JOBS Act, such as those related to reduced disclosure, deferral of certain corporate governance related requirements, the ability to make confidential submissions, and the ability to test the waters, which result in savings that are difficult to .

Patching a Hole in the JOBS Act:  How and Why to Rewrite the Rules that Require Firms to Make Periodic Disclosures, Michael D. Guttentag, 88 Ind. L. J. 151, 2013.  This article examines the circumstances under which, or the conditions that should trigger when, companies should be required to comply with periodic disclosure requirements.

Information Issues on Wall Street 2.0, Elizabeth Pollman, 161 U. Pa. Rev. 179 2012-2013.  The article examines concerns arising from secondary private transactions as a result of lack of information, asymmetric information, and conflicts of interest, as well as concerns regarding insider trading.

“Publicness” in Contemporary Securities Regulation After the JOBS Act, Donald C. Langevoort and Robert B. Thompson, 101 Geo. L.J. 337, 2012-2013.  This paper considers whether the number of record holders is the right measure to use in determining “publicness,” or whether a different measure ought to be used, and how we should think about distinguishing between private and public companies.

Mutual Fund Investments in Private Firms, Sungjoung Kwon, Michelle Lowry, and Yiming Qian, April 2017.  Institutional investors hold a significant percentage of public equity.  The underlying premise of the paper is that mutual funds tend to invest in private companies backed by high quality venture capitalists.