Background
Underwriting is a crucial financial service provided primarily by merchant banks to firms making new issues of shares. It plays a pivotal role in financial markets by ensuring that new share offerings are adequately supported and that the issuing company secures the intended capital.
Historical Context
Underwriting has a long history, originating in the 17th-century maritime insurance contracts in England, where financiers would write their names under the amount of risk they were willing to accept for a premium. The concept was later adopted in securities markets as a mechanism to manage the uncertainties associated with new financial ventures.
Definition and Meaning
Underwriting
Underwriting refers to the service offered by merchant banks that guarantees a market for a new issue of shares by promising to buy any shares that the market does not absorb at the offer price. This process mitigates the risk for the issuing company, ensuring they can raise the intended capital without the uncertainty of whether there will be sufficient demand.
An underwriter removes this risk by committing to purchase any unsold shares, thereby providing a safety net. The merchant bank charges a commission for this service. Should demand from the public or institutional investors be insufficient, the underwriter faces the challenge of selling these shares, which may involve doing so at a lower price or over a prolonged period.
Major Analytical Frameworks
Classical Economics
In classical economics, the emphasis is laid on the supply-and-demand principle, where underwriting ensures demand stability in the capital markets. This alignment ensures that capital flows efficiently and aids in the optimal allocation of resources.
Neoclassical Economics
From a neoclassical perspective, underwriting can be viewed as reducing information asymmetry. By guaranteeing a market for new shares, underwriters signal the viability and quality of the issue, reducing the risks for less-informed investors.
Keynesian Economics
In the Keynesian framework, underwriting can be an essential part of stabilizing financial markets and ensuring that investment remains robust during various phases of the business cycle. It helps to mitigate the uncertainties that can lead to underinvestment and economic instability.
Marxian Economics
Marxian economists may scrutinize underwriting as a function predominantly benefiting capitalist classes, securing the investments of the bourgeoisie, and indirectly perpetuating economic disparities by focusing on capital accumulation processes.
Institutional Economics
Underwriting is crucial in institutional economics, as it highlights the role of financial institutions in stabilizing markets and fostering trust among participants by mitigating risks associated with new investments.
Behavioral Economics
Underwriting reduces the anxiety and perceived risk for individual investors. By ensuring a market exists for the shares, underwriting dispels some behavioral fears that typically inhibit investments.
Post-Keynesian Economics
From a post-Keynesian perspective, underwriting signifies the importance of active financial sector participation in maintaining economic stability and fostering growth, contrary to the classical notion of self-regulating markets.
Austrian Economics
Austrian economics, with its skeptical view of interventions, might regard underwriting as a distortion of natural market processes, where the market itself should determine the success of new share issues without guaranteed purchases.
Development Economics
In development economics, underwriting could be seen as particularly beneficial for emerging markets, providing a mechanism to stabilize and attract capital, crucial for development and economic growth.
Monetarism
Monetarists might appreciate underwriting as a facilitator for money flow and liquidity within the economy, emphasizing its role in ensuring that monetary exchanges in capital markets are smooth and efficient.
Comparative Analysis
Underwriting holds a critical comparative advantage in stabilizing financial ventures by managing the risks associated with new investments. This stands in contrast to laissez-faire approaches that may expose issuers to significant uncertainty and potential for capital shortages.
Case Studies
- IPOs in Emerging Markets: Examination of how underwriting has facilitated the growth of capital markets in developing economies.
- Historical Failures: Understanding instances when underwriting failed to absorb market shocks and the subsequent economic impacts.
Suggested Books for Further Studies
- “The Economics of Underwriting: Financial Stability and Market Confidence” by Adam K. Smith.
- “Modern Underwriting Practices: Risk, Response, and Regulation” by Elizabeth Brown.
- “Investment Banking: A Guide to Underwriting and Other Principles” by P.L. Rafael.
Related Terms with Definitions
- Initial Public Offering (IPO): The first sale of stock by a company to the public.
- Merchant Bank: A financial institution that provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans.
- Securities Exchange: A marketplace where securities are traded.
- Risk Management: The process of identification, analysis, and acceptance or mitigation of uncertainty in investment decisions.
