The impact of national culture on the geography of special purpose acquisition companies.
Files
Urbain_23491700_2022.pdf
Closed access - Adobe PDF
- 761.71 KB
Details
- Supervisors
- Faculty
- Degree label
- Abstract
- Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have been a growing phenomenon since the 2000s. For several years, private companies have preferred to go public through non-operating companies rather than through the traditional IPO process. Although the number of SPACs is growing every year, there is a divergence in popularity across countries. Based on a population of 2,911 SPACs listed in 22 countries and completed in 34 different countries between January 2000 and March 2022, our study reveals that SPACs are more frequently listed and completed in countries with low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance and in short-term oriented countries. In contrast, SPACs are more often listed and completed in individualistic countries and in societies with a high masculinity index. Furthermore, we propose a relation between the success of SPACs and national culture and find similar relations as with the number of SPACs listed and completed within a country. Finally, the cultural difference between the country where the SPAC is registered and the country where it is carried out has a significant negative impact on the success of the SPAC.