IPO Puzzle in India: An Integrated View of Firm, Issue, and Ownership Drivers

Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) continue to present a persistent puzzle in capital markets, characterized by significant short-term underpricing and weak long-term performance. While IPOs are undertaken to raise capital, enhance corporate visibility, and support expansion, empirical evidence suggests that listing-day gains often do not translate into sustainable shareholder value. In the Indian context, despite SEBI's regulatory reforms to enhance transparency and reduce information asymmetry, IPO outcomes remain influenced by multiple structural and behavioural factors. This study provides an integrated review of IPO performance in India by synthesizing theoretical and empirical literature across five major dimensions: theoretical foundations, company-specific determinants, issue-specific characteristics, ownership structure, and long-term post-listing performance. The review highlights the role of firm size, age, profitability, industry profile, issue size, price band width, underwriter reputation, promoter shareholding, governance quality, and market timing in shaping IPO outcomes. By consolidating fragmented evidence into a unified framework, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the "IPO Puzzle" in India. It identifies key areas for future empirical research on sustainable value creation in emerging capital markets.