Investor Demand for Information in Newly Issued Securities

Using search traffic on the EDGAR system of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), we examine investor demand for information and its impact on security prices. Focusing on the registration period for IPOs when information asymmetry between investors and the issuing firm is likely to be high, we document that viewership of peer firm filings significantly increases on IPO filing dates. We find that investor demand for information is positively related to the probability of IPO success and predicts both price revisions and initial returns. Our results indicate that information acquisition is reflected in the pricing of newly issued securities.