Heterogeneous beliefs and idiosyncratic volatility puzzle: evidence from China

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mao He ◽  
Juncheng Huang ◽  
Hongquan Zhu

PurposeThe purpose of our study is to explore the “idiosyncratic volatility puzzle” in Chinese stock market from the perspective of investors' heterogeneous beliefs. To delve into the relationship between idiosyncratic volatility and investors' heterogeneous beliefs, and uncover the ability of heterogeneous beliefs, as well as to explain the “idiosyncratic volatility puzzle”, we construct our study as follows.Design/methodology/approachOur study adopts the unexpected trading volume as proxies of heterogeneity, the residual of Fama–French three-factor model as proxies of idiosyncratic volatility. Portfolio strategies and Fama–MacBeth regression are used to investigate the relationship between the two proxies and stock returns in Chinese A-share market.FindingsInvestors' heterogeneous beliefs, as an intermediary variable, are positively correlated with idiosyncratic volatility. Meanwhile, it could better demonstrate the negative correlation between the idiosyncratic volatility and future stock returns. It is one of the economic mechanisms linking idiosyncratic volatility to subsequent stock returns, which can account for 11.28% of the puzzle.Originality/valueThe findings indicate that idiosyncratic volatility is significantly and positively correlated with heterogeneous beliefs and that heterogeneous beliefs are effective intervening variables to explain the “idiosyncratic volatility puzzle”.

Humanomics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naseem Al Rahahleh ◽  
Iman Adeinat ◽  
Ishaq Bhatti

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the controversial issue of whether stock returns and idiosyncratic risks are related positively or negatively in case of Singaporean ethically poor screened stocks. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the major objectives of this paper, it uses a multiple regression to explore the relationship between expected stock returns and idiosyncratic risk. The paper replicates the Lee and Faff’s (2009) three-factor capital asset-pricing model (CAPM) model in creating the six size/book-to-market portfolios from which it constructs the small minus big (SMB) and high minus low (HML) portfolios that capture the size and book-to-market equity factors, respectively. Findings – The basic finding of the paper is that there is a strong relation between idiosyncratic risk and the expected stock returns. In more details, we observe that the portfolio of stocks with the highest idiosyncratic volatility generates higher average returns (4.36 per cent) than the portfolio of stocks with the lowest idiosyncratic volatility (0.79 per cent) over the sample period. The paper observes that the stock’s idiosyncratic volatility is inversely correlated with the size of the underlying firm. Moreover, there is a pattern of relationships nearer the periods of financial crises: Asian and global financial crises. Research limitations/implications – This paper uses only a three-factor model on a single country. So it cannot be generalized to a multi-country level in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, as the structure of each member country is different. Practical implications – This paper provides guidelines for policymakers and foreign investors in Singapore about the relationship. This research can also be extended to other ASEAN countries to understand this puzzle. Social implications – Ethically sensitive and faithful investors with small investment can benefit from the findings of this paper. Originality/value – The work reported in this paper is original, unpublished and is also not under consideration for publication elsewhere.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2150004
Author(s):  
KHOA DANG DUONG ◽  
QUI NHAT NGUYEN ◽  
TRUONG VINH LE ◽  
DIEP VAN NGUYEN

This paper examines the impacts of limit-to-arbitrage factors on the returns of the idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL) puzzle in Taiwan before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although various studies explore the relationship between stock returns and IVOL, the empirical findings are mixed. We are motivated by unique market microstructures in Taiwan, such as individual investors’ aggressive trading volume and low transaction costs in Taiwan, discouraging arbitrary trading activities. Our empirical results indicate a negative relationship between IVOL and stock returns by using data from the Taiwan stock market. However, the IVOL anomaly does not exist during the Covid-19 pandemic, even in the small stocks sample. Besides, our findings suggest that four proxies of limits-to-arbitrage, such as reversal, transaction costs, turnover and Amihud’s Illiquidity, have statistically significant impacts on the return of IVOL anomaly in Taiwan except for the pandemic period. Finally, our finding suggests that the stock turnover is the only limit-to-arbitrage factor that helps investors earn arbitrary profits during the COVID-19 period.


2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 1250-1270
Author(s):  
Han Ching Huang ◽  
Pei-Shan Tung

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the underlying option impacts an insider’s propensity to purchase and sell before corporate announcements, the proportion of insiders’ trading after announcements relative to before announcements, and the insider’s profitability around corporate announcements. Design/methodology/approach The authors test whether the timing information and option have impacted on the tendency of insider trade, the percentage of all shares traded by insiders in the post-announcement to pre-announcement periods and the average cumulative abnormal stock returns during the pre-announcement period. Findings Insiders’ propensity to trade before announcements is higher for stocks without options listed than for stocks with traded options. This result is stronger for unscheduled announcements than for scheduled ones. The proportion of insiders’ trade volume after announcements relative to before announcements in stocks that have not options listed is higher than those in stocks with traded options. The positive relationship between the insiders’ signed volume and the informational content of corporate announcements is stronger in stocks without traded options than in stocks with options listed. Insider trades prior to unscheduled announcement are more profitable than those before scheduled ones. Research limitations/implications The paper examines whether there is a difference between the effects of optioned stock and non-optioned stock. Roll et al. (2010) use the relative trading volume of options to stock ratio (O/S) to proxy for informed options trading activity. Future research could explore the impact of O/S. Moreover, the authors examine how insiders with private information use such information to trade in their own firms. Mehta et al. (2017) argue that insiders also use private information to facilitate trading (shadow trading) in linked firms, such as supply chain partners or competitors. Therefore, future research could consider the impact of shadow trading. Social implications Since the insider’s propensity to buy before announcements in stocks without options listed is larger than in stocks with traded options and the relationship is stronger for unscheduled announcements than for scheduled ones, the efforts of regulators should focus on monitoring insider trading in stocks without options listed prior to unscheduled announcements. Originality/value First, Lei and Wang (2014) find that the increasing pattern of insider’s propensity to trade before unscheduled announcements is larger than that before scheduled announcements. The authors document the underlying option has impacted the insider’s propensity to purchase and sell, and the relationship is stronger for unscheduled announcements than for scheduled ones. Second, related studies show insider’s trading activity has shifted from periods before corporate announcements to periods after corporate announcements to decrease litigation risk. This paper find the underlying option has influenced the proportion of insiders’ trading after announcements relative to before announcements when the illegal insider trade-related penalties increase.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Qin ◽  
Hongquan Zhu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the effective measures for heterogeneity and to uncover the relationship between investor heterogeneity and stock returns. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs dispersion in analysts’ earnings forecasts and unexpected trading volume as proxies of heterogeneity. Portfolio strategies and Fama-Macbeth regression are used to uncover the relationship between the two proxies and stock returns in the Chinese A-share market. Findings – The result indicates that stock returns are significantly related to unexpected trading volume, i.e., higher unexpected trading volume implies higher stock returns now but lower future stock returns. In contrast, there is no statistically significant relationship between analysts’ forecast dispersion and stock returns. Originality/value – The findings suggest that unexplained trading volume is an effective measure for investor heterogeneity in the Chinese A-share market.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongquan Zhu ◽  
Lingling Jiang

Purpose Merton’s model of capital market equilibrium under incomplete information predicts that contemporaneous stock returns are positively related to investor recognition and that future stock returns are negatively related to investor recognition. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether Merton’s theory holds true for the Chinese stock market. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes the degree of shareholder base growth (SBG) as a proxy for investor recognition and examines the relationship between investor recognition and stock returns through a univariate analysis and Fama-Macbeth cross-sectional regressions based on A-Share listed firms. Findings The results show that investor recognition is nonlinearly and positively related to contemporaneous stock returns and is negatively related to future stock returns in contrast to the conclusions of Merton’s theory. A long-short trading strategy that involves buying stocks with the lowest SBG rate and that sells stocks with the highest SBG rate will earn an average monthly return of 3.615 percent. Research limitations/implications Though Merton’s theory is not fully reflected in the Chinese stock market, investor recognition is considered an important risk factor in the Chinese stock market. Originality/value No works have yet investigated the validity of Merton’s “investor cognition hypothesis” in relation to the Chinese stock market. This paper strives to fill this gap.


2021 ◽  
Vol 292 ◽  
pp. 02017
Author(s):  
Qiyuan Peng

The research on the relationship between risk and return of new energy stocks is the focus of financial research. Related research focuses more on the relationship between idiosyncratic fluctuation risk and stock returns. In the Chinese stock market, some Chinese investors clearly prefer stocks with high risk characteristics, which leads to overvalued stocks. However, the short-selling restrictions in the Chinese stock market and the heterogeneity of investors have also led to a significant negative correlation between idiosyncratic volatility and cross-sectional yield. There are many studies on the relationship between idiosyncratic volatility and stock returns, but no consistent conclusions have been drawn, and there is a lack of relevant research on new energy stocks. Therefore. This paper collates the data of 70 listed companies in the new energy and new energy automobile industry from 2017 to 2019, tracks the stock returns of sample companies for 3 years (36 months), and conducts in-depth research on the relationship between idiosyncratic fluctuation risks and new energy stock returns. To further verify and supplement the risk-return relationship of China's new energy stock market and provide a certain basis for the company's decision-making behaviour.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 1016-1033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Richey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the return performance of a portfolio of US “vice stocks,” firms that manufacture and sell products such as alcohol, tobacco, gaming services, national defense and firearms, adult entertainment, and payday lenders. Design/methodology/approach Using daily return data from a portfolio of vice stocks over the period 1987-2016, the author computes the Jensen’s α (capital asset pricing model (CAPM)), Fama-French Three-Factor, Carhart Four-Factor, and Fama-French Five-Factor results for the complete portfolio, and each vice industry individually. Findings The results from the CAPM, Fama-French Three-Factor Model, and the Carhart Four-Factor Model show a positive and significant α for the vice portfolio throughout the sample period. However, the α’s significance disappears with the addition of the explanatory variables from the Fama-French Five-Factor Model. Originality/value The author provides academics and practitioners with results from a new model. As of this writing, the author is unaware of any articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals that investigate vice stocks within the framework of the Fama-French Five-Factor Model (2015). First, the existing literature does not shed light on the relationship between “profitability” and “aggressiveness” (the fourth and fifth factors of the Fama-French Model) and vice stock returns. Second, within the framework of the Fama-French Five-Factor Model, the author shows results not only from a portfolio of vice stocks, but from various vice industries as well.


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