ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs

Companies' decision to go public is risky because of the high uncertainty level from the companies' unknown history prior to their listing. Recent studies in the Malaysian market reported the declining trend of companies' initial performance, relating it to investors' current dem...

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Published in:Investment Management and Financial Innovations
Main Author: Alyasa-Gan S.S.; Che-Yahya N.; Bahrudin N.Z.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: LLC CPC Business Perspectives 2024
Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85201579747&doi=10.21511%2fimfi.21%283%29.2024.17&partnerID=40&md5=66597f0b273918ce85eea6743895771c
id 2-s2.0-85201579747
spelling 2-s2.0-85201579747
Alyasa-Gan S.S.; Che-Yahya N.; Bahrudin N.Z.
ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs
2024
Investment Management and Financial Innovations
21
3
10.21511/imfi.21(3).2024.17
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85201579747&doi=10.21511%2fimfi.21%283%29.2024.17&partnerID=40&md5=66597f0b273918ce85eea6743895771c
Companies' decision to go public is risky because of the high uncertainty level from the companies' unknown history prior to their listing. Recent studies in the Malaysian market reported the declining trend of companies' initial performance, relating it to investors' current demand for higher information transparency that can reflect companies' sustainable evolution as a means to attract their demand in subscribing newly issued shares. Thus, this study aims to investigate the impact of disclosing ESG practices on companies' initial performance. Using a linear regression with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation, this study examines 171 initial public offerings (IPOs) issued in the Malaysian market from 2015 to 2023. By using two ways of measuring companies' initial performance (offer-to-open and offer-to-close), the findings show that higher information disclosure on ESG practices will only be reflective and positively affect companies' performance by the end of the day. Further examination of individual ESG pillars indicates that environmental disclosures negatively influence companies' initial performance, while social and governance disclosures positively influence companies' initial performance. A large investment in maintaining a high level of environmental practice can be costly, negatively influencing companies' performances. Higher social and governance disclosure attracts socially conscious investors and reflects good internal governance, increasing demand for the companies' shares during the IPO and positively influencing companies' performances. This study contributes to the growing literature concerning ESG and post-IPO performances specific to the Malaysian market and proposes recommendations on the importance of disclosing ESG practices prior to their IPO. © Siti Sarah Alyasa-Gan, Norliza Che-Yahya, Nur Zahidah Bahrudin, 2024.
LLC CPC Business Perspectives
18104967
English
Article
All Open Access; Gold Open Access
author Alyasa-Gan S.S.; Che-Yahya N.; Bahrudin N.Z.
spellingShingle Alyasa-Gan S.S.; Che-Yahya N.; Bahrudin N.Z.
ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs
author_facet Alyasa-Gan S.S.; Che-Yahya N.; Bahrudin N.Z.
author_sort Alyasa-Gan S.S.; Che-Yahya N.; Bahrudin N.Z.
title ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs
title_short ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs
title_full ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs
title_fullStr ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs
title_full_unstemmed ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs
title_sort ESG practices disclosure and initial performance of Malaysian IPOs
publishDate 2024
container_title Investment Management and Financial Innovations
container_volume 21
container_issue 3
doi_str_mv 10.21511/imfi.21(3).2024.17
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85201579747&doi=10.21511%2fimfi.21%283%29.2024.17&partnerID=40&md5=66597f0b273918ce85eea6743895771c
description Companies' decision to go public is risky because of the high uncertainty level from the companies' unknown history prior to their listing. Recent studies in the Malaysian market reported the declining trend of companies' initial performance, relating it to investors' current demand for higher information transparency that can reflect companies' sustainable evolution as a means to attract their demand in subscribing newly issued shares. Thus, this study aims to investigate the impact of disclosing ESG practices on companies' initial performance. Using a linear regression with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation, this study examines 171 initial public offerings (IPOs) issued in the Malaysian market from 2015 to 2023. By using two ways of measuring companies' initial performance (offer-to-open and offer-to-close), the findings show that higher information disclosure on ESG practices will only be reflective and positively affect companies' performance by the end of the day. Further examination of individual ESG pillars indicates that environmental disclosures negatively influence companies' initial performance, while social and governance disclosures positively influence companies' initial performance. A large investment in maintaining a high level of environmental practice can be costly, negatively influencing companies' performances. Higher social and governance disclosure attracts socially conscious investors and reflects good internal governance, increasing demand for the companies' shares during the IPO and positively influencing companies' performances. This study contributes to the growing literature concerning ESG and post-IPO performances specific to the Malaysian market and proposes recommendations on the importance of disclosing ESG practices prior to their IPO. © Siti Sarah Alyasa-Gan, Norliza Che-Yahya, Nur Zahidah Bahrudin, 2024.
publisher LLC CPC Business Perspectives
issn 18104967
language English
format Article
accesstype All Open Access; Gold Open Access
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