Overconfidence bias and stock market volatility in Ghana: testing the rationality of investors in the Covid-19 era

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Kuranchie-Pong ◽  
Joseph Ato Forson

PurposeThe paper tests the overconfidence bias and volatility on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) during the pre-Covid-19 pandemic and Covid-19 pandemic period.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs pairwise Granger causality to test the presence of overconfidence bias on the Ghana stock market as well as GARCH (1,1) and GJR-GARCH (1, 1) models to understand whether overconfidence bias contributed to volatility during pre-Covid-19 pandemic and Covid-19 pandemic period. The pre-Covid-19 pandemic period spans from January, 2019 to December, 2019, and Covid-19 pandemic period spans from January, 2020 to December, 2020.FindingsThe paper finds a unidirectional Granger causality running from weekly market returns to weekly trading volume during the Covid-19 pandemic period. These results indicate the presence of overconfidence bias on the Ghana stock market during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Finally, the conditional variance estimation results showed that excessive trading of overconfident market players significantly contributes to the weekly volatility observed during the Covid-19 pandemic period.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical findings demonstrate that market participants on the GSE exhibit conditional irrationality in their investment decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic period. This implies investors overreact to private information and underreact to available public information and as a result become overconfident in their investment decisions.Practical implicationsFindings from this paper show that there is evidence of overconfidence bias among market players on the GSE. Therefore, investors, financial advisors and other market players should be educated on overconfidence bias and its negative effect on their investment decisions so as to minimize it, especially during the pandemic period.Originality/valueThis study is a maiden one that underscores investors’ overconfidence bias in the wake of a pandemic in the Ghanaian stock market. It is a precursor to the overconfidence bias discourse and encourages the testing of other behavioral biases aside what is understudied during the Covid-19 pandemic period in Ghana.

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkata Narasimha Chary Mushinada ◽  
Venkata Subrahmanya Sarma Veluri

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to empirically test the overconfidence hypothesis at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).Design/methodology/approachThe study applies bivariate vector autoregression to perform the impulse-response analysis and EGARCH models to understand whether there is self-attribution bias and overconfidence behavior among the investors.FindingsThe study shows the empirical evidence in support of overconfidence hypothesis. The results show that the overconfident investors overreact to private information and underreact to the public information. Based on EGARCH specifications, it is observed that self-attribution bias, conditioned by right forecasts, increases investors’ overconfidence and the trading volume. Finally, the analysis of the relation between return volatility and trading volume shows that the excessive trading of overconfident investors makes a contribution to the observed excessive volatility.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focused on self-attribution and overconfidence biases using monthly data. Further studies can be encouraged to test the proposed hypotheses on daily data and also other behavioral biases.Practical implicationsInsights from the study suggest that the investors should perform a post-analysis of each investment so that they become aware of past behavioral mistakes and stop continuing the same. This might help investors to minimize the negative impact of self-attribution and overconfidence on their expected utility.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the investors’ overconfidence behavior at market-level data in BSE, India.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kashif Rashid ◽  
Yasir Bin Tariq ◽  
Mamoon Ur Rehman

PurposeThis study examines the role of behavioural factors, such as confidence, optimism, pessimism and rational expectation, in affecting investment decisions in the Pakistani stock market.Design/methodology/approachUsing daily trading data of KSE-100 index from January 2012 to December 2015, different regression models, including descriptive statistics and stationarity tests, are performed.FindingsResults indicate that stock market trading has suffered from pessimistic behaviour of investors. In the first model, the authors find a positive sign of confidence and negative sign of optimism with the trading volume. The second model shows a positive role of confidence and rational expectations in affecting the trading volume in daily, Monday and Friday samples. The results of the third model show a negative sign of both optimism and rational expectation with the trading volume. Furthermore, the next model shows a negative sign of confidence combined with pessimism while testing their relationship with the trading volume. Finally, results of the final model suggest that optimism negatively affects the trading volume, and on the other hand, pessimism has a positive impact on the trading volume.Research limitations/implicationsThe method and empirical testing of behavioural biases and their relationship with economic variable used in this study seem to be a promising way to better understand the role of psychology in deriving financial decisions for academics and policymakers.Originality/valueThis study uses secondary data for measuring behavioural biases and decomposes the effect between rational expectation and behavioural biases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1201-1217
Author(s):  
Venkata Narasimha Chary Mushinada

PurposeThe main aim of this paper is to empirically test at market level, the investors' differential reaction to information, contribution of their confidence level and adaptive behaviour to excessive market volatility in Indian stock market.Design/methodology/approachThe Bivariate Vector Autoregression and Impulse Response Analysis are used to study whether investors over/under-react to private and public information. EGARCH models are used to study the contribution of investors' over/under-confidence and adaptive behaviour to excessive market volatility.FindingsThe investors over-react to private information and under-react to public information during pre-crash period, become overconfident and contribute to excessive volatility. They under-react to both private and public information during after-crash period, become under-confident and also conform to adaptive market hypothesis (AMH).Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical results of the study can help investors to minimize the negative impact of over/under-confidence on their expected utility.Practical implicationsThe investors shall perform a post-analysis of investment, become aware of their past behavioural mistakes and start adapting to changing market conditions. This shall move the markets towards a new equilibrium in long run thus conforming AMH. However, the investors sometimes display an apparently irrational behaviour during this process.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study at market level data examining investors' over/under-reaction, over/under-confidence and adaptive behaviour in the context of stock market crash.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinesh Jain ◽  
Nidhi Walia ◽  
Sanjay Gupta

Purpose Research in the area of behavioral finance has demonstrated that investors exhibit irrational behavior while making investment decisions. Investor behavior usually deviates from logic and reason, and consequently, investors exhibit various behavioral biases which impact their investment decisions. The purpose of this paper is to rank the behavioral biases influencing the investment decision making of individual equity investors from the state of Punjab, India. This research would provide valuable insight into the different behavioral biases to investors and other participants of the capital market and help them in improving investment decisions. Design/methodology/approach The research is conducted on the individual equity investors of Punjab, India. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process was applied to rank the factors influencing the decision making of individual equity investors of Punjab. The primary factors considered for the study are overconfidence bias, representative bias, anchoring bias, availability bias, regret aversion bias, loss aversion bias, mental accounting bias and herding bias. Findings The three most influential criteria were herding bias, loss aversion bias and overconfidence bias. The five most influential sub-criteria were “I readily sell shares that have increased in value (C61),” “News about the company (Newspapers, TV and magazines) affects my investment decision (C84),” “I invest each element of my investment portfolio separately (C71)” and “I usually hold loosing stock for long time, expecting trend reversal (C52).” Research limitations/implications Although sample survey conducted in the present study was based on a limited sample selected from a particular area that truly represented the total population, it is considered as the limitation of this study. Practical implications The outcome of this research provides investors with a better understanding of behavioral biases that influence their decision making. This study provides them a guideline on different behavioral biases that they should consider while making investment decisions. Originality/value The research model is based on the available literature on behavioral finance and the research results and findings would add value to the existing knowledge base.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1028-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sijia Zhang ◽  
Andros Gregoriou

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine stock market reactions and liquidity effects following the first bank loan announcement of zero-leverage firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors use an event studies methodology in both a univariate and multivariate framework. The authors also use regression analysis. Findings Using a sample of 96 zero-leverage firms listed on the FTSE 350 index over the time period of 2000–2015, the authors find evidence of a significant and permanent stock price increase as a result of the initial debt announcement. The loan announcement results in a sustained increase in trading volume and liquidity. This improvement continues to persist once the authors control for stock price and trading volume effects in both the short and long run. Furthermore, the authors examine the spread decomposition around the same period, and discover the adverse selection of the bid–ask spread is significantly related to the initial bank loan announcement. Research limitations/implications The results can be attributed to the information cost/liquidity hypothesis, suggesting that investors demand a lower premium for trading stocks with more available information. Originality/value This is the first paper to look at multiple industries, more than one loan and information asymmetry effects.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Lakshmi ◽  
S. Visalakshmi ◽  
Kavitha Shanmugam

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the intensity of transmission of shocks from USA to BRICS countries in the long-run and short-run deviations and swiftness of recovery during US subprime mortgage crisis. This analysis enables the authors to explore the evolving patterns of relationships between these markets and examine whether their co-movements altered either in response to international shocks that originated in advanced markets like USA or due to their domestic fluctuations. Design/methodology/approach – Employing data of daily stock market indices (open and close) of BRICS countries for the period January 2, 2001 to May 31, 2012, this paper examines the interactions and characteristics of price movements of BRICS with US market by applying co-integration tests, vector error correction model and Granger causality relationship. The daily stock market indices data are derived from respective stock exchange web sites. Findings – The results exhibit that both long-run co-integration relationships and short-run Granger causality relationships exist between the stock markets of US-BRICS. Furthermore, this nexus is amplified in the short-run during 2007-2009, when the subprime mortgage financial crisis in the USA cropped up. This finding lends support to the prominence of developed (US) market links in the proliferation of persistent co-movements of BRICS stock markets. Research limitations/implications – The findings imply an increasing degree of global market integration due to quick dissemination of global shocks originating from developed market like USA, and swift recovery which can be attributed to the increased resilience, consistent with the moderated level of domestically driven risk in the BRICS markets. In spite of their similarities, long-run and short-run interdependences with the US stock market exhibit differences among the BRICS. This can be attributed to the regional heterogeneity in long-run risk and return co-movements with the USA. Practical implications – Changes from the US index easily affect these stock markets in the short-run, which implies that the US index may act as a leading indicator for investing funds in BRICS markets. Originality/value – This study would enable the authors to understand whether BRICS economies actually remain resilient to adverse developments in USA and could serve as alternative investment destinations for global portfolio diversification.


Significance Beijing's supportive policies are likely to stabilise the market, and structural tailwinds will probably reflate it eventually. Stock market volatility is likely to have limited ramifications for the wider economy unless it is prolonged. Impacts Downward pressure will last until margin traders have unwound their positions, a mechanical process over which Beijing has little control. Foreign-listed Chinese firms may reconsider plans to de-list abroad and re-list in China. Capital account and currency liberalisation will resume, in pursuit of Beijing's goal of achieving IMF reserve currency status.


Significance Similar fears accompanied the 2008-09 anti-crisis response, but did not come true. The main reason is that, while quantitative easing and other measures boost the monetary base (M0), inflation is more likely to be fired by strong growth in the broadest monetary aggregate (M3); so far, there has been limited pass-through from M0 to M3. Impacts Central bank money supply is underwriting stock market gains, an intended monetary policy outcome; but stock market volatility is rising. If higher inflation does occur, central banks have the tools to control it; indeed, rising prices has been a central monetary policy goal. If inflationary pressures do appear, reducing the large volumes of banks’ excess reserves will require adroit management.


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