Has the Long-Term Reversal Reversed? Evidence from Country Equity Indices

This study reexamines the long-term reversal anomaly across international stock market indices. We investigate a comprehensive and up-to-date sample of 74 countries for years 1995-2015. By controlling for country-level value, size and momentum effects, we provide convincing evidence that the long-run reversal effect has reversed in recent years, so that past winners outperform losers. The outcomes are robust to impact of country-specific tax rates on dividends, different portfolio weighting schemes or alternative sorting periods. The “reverse reversal anomaly” is strongest for large markets, nonetheless it is observable in a broad range of subsets, independently of market liquidity, level of development, country financial openness, pricing or short term past performance