← Search

Journal of Political Economy Vol. 109 No. 4 2001

The Geography of Investment: Informed Trading and Asset Prices

Joshua D. Coval1; Tobias J. Moskowitz1,2,3,4

1 National Bureau of Economic Research · 2 Capital University · 3 Yale University · 4 Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria

open access

Abstract

Applying a geographic lens to mutual fund performance, this study finds that fund managers earn substantial abnormal returns in nearby investments. These returns are particularly strong among funds that are small and old, focus on few holdings, and operate out of remote areas. Furthermore, we find that while the average fund exhibits only a modest bias toward local stocks, certain funds strongly bias their holdings locally and exhibit even greater local performance. Finally, we demonstrate that the extent to which a firm is held by nearby investors is positively related to its future expected return. Our results suggest that investors trade local securities at an informational advantage and point toward a link between such trading and asset prices.

DOI
10.1086/322088
Volume
109
Issue
4
Pages
811-841
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite