How does a “flat” world affect the global investment landscape? Historically, institutional equity managers have been separated into two groups: US and non-US. Managers with a US mandate typically only invest in stocks domiciled in the US, whereas managers with a non-US mandate only invest...

U.S. stocks are more volatile than stocks of similar foreign firms. A firm’s stock return volatility can be higher for reasons that contribute positively (good volatility) or negatively (bad volatility) to shareholder wealth and economic growth. We find that the volatility of U.S. firms is...