A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), also known as a “blank check” company, raises financing via an initial public offering to merge with a private target and take it public. Although SPAC deals are hugely popular, their performance is mixed. Thanks to HKUST’s Martin Szydlowski and a co-researcher, investors now have much-needed guidance for ... 閱讀更多

We study pivots as signaling devices in a dynamic experimentation model. An entrepreneur receives funding from an investor and has private information about a project, which requires costly experimentation to succeed. The entrepreneur has a real option to pivot, i.e., to abandon the project and to start a new one. Investors learn about the project from the ... 閱讀更多

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are blank check companies that raise funds through initial public offerings (IPOs) to merge with private firms. In 2021, the U.S. saw a surge in SPAC deals, with 613 IPOs raising over $161 billion. This rise in popularity contrasts with SPACs mixed performance, which has caught the attention of regulators. We ... 閱讀更多