We study stock market reactions to the Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016 in order to assess investors’ expectations about the effects of leaving the European Union on the UK economy. Our results suggest that initial stock price movements were driven by fears of a cyclical downturn and by the...

In a sample of 7,209 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) incidents involving 63 incident countries and more than 6,000 firms, we show that abnormal event returns are negative (-0.6%) on average but less so when incidents occur abroad rather than at home. This domestic-foreign return gap...

Market reactions to the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) provide new insights into how real shocks and financial policies drive firm value. Initially, internationally oriented firms, especially those more exposed to trade with China, underperformed. As the virus spread to Europe and the...

We attempt to explain post-earnings announcement drift using the newly documented refinement of the disposition effect, which is the V-shaped net selling propensity (VNSP). Using a novel data set containing stock-level information on the trading activities of different types of investors, we...

We analyze the value of investor relations (IR) strategies to IPO firms. We find that firms that are less visible and have inexperienced management tend to hire IR consultants prior to the issue date. IR consultants help create positive news coverage before an IPO event as reflected in a more...

This paper applies a new measure of aggregate investor confidence, which extracts feedback impulses from stock market data. According to the measure, aggregate investor confidence is positively associated with the profitability of momentum strategies. In a 1927-2014 U.S. sample, aggregate...

Overconfidence is one of the most robust findings in the field of Behavioural Finance, and is associated with excessive trading and risk taking among market participants. Assessment of the level of confidence in their abilities and skills is well-documented for individuals. However, the...

This study investigates individual and institutional trading in competing firms around earnings announcements. We find individual and institutional informed trading in competing firms, which is dominant prior to earnings announcements. Magnitude of institutional (individual) net order flow...

Return chasing is often cited as one of the primary behavioral foibles of investors, resulting in sub-par returns. Surprisingly, the literature does not provide a generally accepted and testable description of return chasing. This paper proposes a simple definition. It then describes how return...

We examine the market mispricing and limits-to-arbitrage hypotheses on the positive relation between cash holdings and expected stock returns. Using investor sentiment as a proxy for market mispricing, we find that returns of cash holding stocks are heavily influenced by investor sentiment....