Key issues: What characterizes financial contracts issued by startup firms? What is the governance landscape when a venture capitalist is involved, and what changes occur following the VC's exit? What are the typical governance provisions in the charters of firms going public? What are the governance implications of "money left on the table," implied by the well-known underpricing of IPO firms? How do firms float new securities, and what are the governance implications the floatation method of choice?

				Center Research

Allen, Franklin, and Andrew Winton. "Corporate Financial Structure, Incentives and Optimal Contracting," Finance, R.A. Jarrow, V. Maksimovic, and W.T. Ziemba (eds.), Chapter 22, 1995.

Eckbo, B. Espen, and Ronald W. Masulis. "Seasoned Public Offerings: A Survey," Finance, R.A. Jarrow, V. Maksimovic, and W.T. Ziemba (eds.), Chapter 31, 1995.

Graham, John R., and Campbell R. Harvey. "The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Field," Journal of Financial Economics, 60, 2001.

Ibbotson, Roger G., and Jay R. Ritter. "Initial Public Offerings," Finance, R.A. Jarrow, V. Maksimovic, and W.T. Ziemba (eds.), Chapter 30, 1995.

Kaplan, Stephen N., and Per Stromberg. "Financial Contracting Theory Meets the Real World: An Empirical Analysis of Venture Capital Contracts," Working paper, University of Chicago, 2000.