The pricing of initial public offerings (IPOs) always raises one interesting question. Who benefits?

Data shows that IPOs in the United States are underpriced an average of 15 percent. Translated, that means at the end of the first day of trading, the stock price of a company is typically 15 percent higher than the initial price set by the underwriter. So someone is cleaning up. But is the gap inevitable when you run the risk of taking a young company, with little or no track record, public? Or are there other forces at work ensuring that certain parties are making big profits and cashing in on that gap?

Some research out of Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business suggests that the ones who are benefitting are the investment banks and Venture Capitalists seeking to cash out as quickly as possible. Institutional investors usually will cash out in a matter of days, and the venture capitalists will typically exit the company within six months on average after making the enormous profits from the gap.

The researchers also found that the gap works for outsiders on boards. Generally speaking, outsiders are the ones looking for short-term gain whereas the insiders are the ones with long-term vision.

This is significant because since Enron and similar scandals, measures have been put in place requiring more outsiders on boards. Outsider staffing or outsider majorities now are required on auditing committees and other key committees of publicly traded firms.

The study suggests that someone is making money out of these changes.