Daniel Legran
- 6 August 2025
- OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES - No. 373Details
- Abstract
- The European Union (EU) economy depends heavily on bank funding. For this reason, strengthening EU equity markets as an alternative funding source has been a policy priority under the Capital Markets Union (CMU) agenda, and more recently a key feature of the Savings and Investment Union (SIU). EU listed equity markets are smaller and structurally different from those in the United States (US), with differing market capitalisations of listed firms and differences in the number of companies listed, stemming from lower initial public offering (IPO) activity in Europe. This paper aims to understand the drivers behind the EU-US listing gap, focusing on two aspects: (1) the general firm-level benefits of listing, and (2) whether pre-listing financing opportunities in the EU are underdeveloped, hindering firm growth and ultimately market depth. This paper first puts forward an empirical analysis to assess how a firm’s decision to list impacts various key performance indicators, with a view to assessing the implications of listing for the economy at large. Second, it zooms in on innovative firms to shed light on the primary challenges faced by EU startups in their funding pipelines, with a focus on late-stage equity financing and venture capital (VC) markets. Focusing on the euro area (EA) as a proxy to derive broader benefits of listing in the EU, we find that EA companies’ key profitability measures, employment, innovation capacity and productivity all increase after listing – and are thus indicative of wider economic benefits. This is, however, associated with challenges for the long-term investment strategies of listed companies, such as potential short-termism – a topic widely studied in the literature. Moreover, a comparison with the US suggests that, while the benefits and risks of listing are qualitatively similar on the other side of the Atlantic, EA companies seem to benefit somewhat less from listing than their US peers. […]
- JEL Code
- G10 : Financial Economics→General Financial Markets→General
G30 : Financial Economics→Corporate Finance and Governance→General
L10 : Industrial Organization→Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance→General
L50 : Industrial Organization→Regulation and Industrial Policy→General
G24 : Financial Economics→Financial Institutions and Services→Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Brokerage, Ratings and Ratings Agencies
G32 : Financial Economics→Corporate Finance and Governance→Financing Policy, Financial Risk and Risk Management, Capital and Ownership Structure, Value of Firms, Goodwill
L21 : Industrial Organization→Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior→Business Objectives of the Firm
L25 : Industrial Organization→Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior→Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope