Knowledge that Transforms

The existence of the phenomenon of “underpricing” has been well established for common stock initial public offerings (CSIPOs). However, the extent of underpricing varies from firm to firm. An examination of the prospectuses of different firms reveals that the motivation for going public varies, and that there are three types of offerings: pure primary offerings; pure secondary offerings; and mixed offerings. This study compares the average level of underpricing for pure primary offerings with that of mixed offerings for small firms in the over-the counter (OTC) capital market. The results of the study suggest that there are Implications of the type of offering for both the firm and the selling “harvesting” shareholders as well as the incoming investors.

Although the commercialization of public-sector technology is a primary federal strategy for improving the international competitiveness of U.S. industry, the potential role of spin-off entrepreneurship in this strategy is poorly understood. Inventors from three large national laboratories are compared to each other and to spin-off entrepreneurs from the same laboratories. A 1992 survey gathered data on personal characteristics, attitudes, and perceptions of situational variables from 213 inventors and 24 spin-off entrepreneurs. This paper identifies differences among the laboratories as well as differences between each of the laboratories and the entrepreneurs that have started ventures from inventions discovered at these laboratories. These differences should be used to identify areas of change that are needed to increase the number of inventions that are spun-off from the laboratories. These changes include affecting the inventors' entrepreneurial attitudes and perceptions of key situational variables.