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Chinese Journal of Management Science ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (11): 46-58.doi: 10.16381/j.cnki.issn1003-207x.2024.2226

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Does the Registration-Based IPO Reform Suppress or Facilitate the Earnings Deterioration of IPO Companies?

Cheng Xiang1(), Xueqian Peng1, Lixuan Feng2   

  1. 1.School of Economics and Business Administration,Chongqing University,Chongqing 400044,China
    2.School of Economics and Management,Wuhan University,Wuhan 430072,China
  • Received:2024-12-07 Revised:2025-05-05 Online:2026-11-25 Published:2026-11-10
  • Contact: Cheng Xiang E-mail:xiangcheng@cqu.edu.cn

Abstract:

The impact of the registration-based IPO reform on the post-listing decline in financial performance—commonly referred to as “earnings deterioration”— is empirically examined by leveraging a quasi-natural experiment based on the pilot implementation of the registration system on the ChiNext board (GEM) of the Chinese A-share market.Using an entropy-balanced sample and a difference-in-differences (DID) model, the empirical results indicate that the degree of earnings deterioration is significantly greater among IPO firms under the registration-based system compared to those under the approval-based system. This conclusion holds across robustness tests, including propensity score matching samples, alternative measures of earnings deterioration, exclusion of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, placebo tests, and parallel trend tests. Further analysis reveals that, compared to IPO companies under the approval-based system, those under the registration-based system engage in higher levels of real earnings management before listing and demonstrate lower utilization rates of raised funds after listing. Additionally, the exacerbation of earnings deterioration for registration-based IPO companies is significantly stronger for those with higher price-to-earnings ratios, greater financing constraints, and lower fund utilization rates. This effect further increases the risk of future stock price crashes for those companies. These findings suggest that the relatively relaxed listing qualifications and higher valuation potential under the registration-based IPO system may encourage IPO companies to prioritize rapid listing for speculative capital raising. This leads to earnings management before listing to increase issuance prices and valuations, while raised funds remain underutilized after listing. The combination of earnings reversal from earnings management and low fund utilization ultimately results in post-listing earnings deterioration.It contributes to the discussion on the effects of China's registration-based IPO reform by exploring its impact on earnings deterioration, offering valuable insights for regulators in advancing reforms and improving the quality of listed companies in the context of the full implementation of the registration-based IPO system in China.

Key words: registration-based ipo system reform, earnings deterioration, earnings management, IPO funding, quality of listed companies

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