Finance

Business

Investment banking

Private equity fund

Equity (law)

Equity capital

Bargaining power

Initial public offering

Political science

Economics

Microeconomics

Venture capital

Monetary economics

Financial system

Market economy

Private investment in public equity

Private placement

Private equity

Deregulation

Review of Financial Studies

The deregulation of securities laws—in particular the National Securities Markets Improvement Act (NSMIA) of 1996—has increased the supply of private capital to late-stage private startups, which are now able to grow to a size that few private firms used to reach. NSMIA is one of a number of factors that have changed the going-public versus staying-private trade-off, helping bring about a new equilibrium where fewer startups go public, and those that do are older. This new equilibrium does not reflect an initial public offering (IPO) market failure. Rather, founders are using their increased bargaining power vis-à-vis investors to stay private longer.

The Deregulation of the Private Equity Markets and the Decline in IPOs