Saudi Arabian IPOs Productivity and Efficiency

Abstract

Purpose - The main objective of the paper is to examine the performance of Saudi Arabian firms’ performance as they make the transition from private ownership into public ownership.

Design/ Methodology/ Approach - A sample of 13 Saudi IPOs performance is investigated. We use a data envelopment analysis DEA method to construct the Malmquist productivity and efficiency indices.

Findings - We have found that Saudi IPOs exhibit a significant decline in the productivity after the IPO as compared to the pre-IPO level.

Originality/ Value - The paper is the first to provide assessment for the clustering IPOs that occurred in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in recent years.

Keywords: Saudi initial public offerings, Firms’ performance, Productivity, DEA method, Malmquist Index

JEL Classification: D24, D57, L33