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The idiosyncratic volatility anomaly: Corporate investment or investor mispricing?

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  • Malagon, Juliana
  • Moreno, David
  • Rodríguez, Rosa

Abstract

Most of the literature on the idiosyncratic volatility anomaly has focused on plausible explanations for it based on investor preferences, investor irrationality or market characteristics. Surprisingly, the role of asset-pricing models and firm characteristics in the estimation of idiosyncratic risk measures has been largely neglected. Our results suggest that investment and profitability, presumably driven by managers and therefore linked to idiosyncratic risk, are able to account for the anomaly in a cross-section of stock returns. Moreover, we show that this effect is independent and complementary to the effects related to investor preference for skewness.

Suggested Citation

  • Malagon, Juliana & Moreno, David & Rodríguez, Rosa, 2015. "The idiosyncratic volatility anomaly: Corporate investment or investor mispricing?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 224-238.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:60:y:2015:i:c:p:224-238
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2015.08.014
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    Cited by:

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    3. Stanislav Bozhkov & Habin Lee & Uthayasankar Sivarajah & Stella Despoudi & Monomita Nandy, 2020. "Idiosyncratic risk and the cross-section of stock returns: the role of mean-reverting idiosyncratic volatility," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 294(1), pages 419-452, November.
    4. Ali, Syed Riaz Mahmood & Hasan, Mohammad Nurul & Östermark, Ralf, 2020. "Are idiosyncratic risk and extreme positive return priced in the Indian equity market?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 530-545.
    5. Uyar, Ali & Lodh, Suman & Nandy, Monomita & Kuzey, Cemil & Karaman, Abdullah S., 2023. "Tradeoff between corporate investment and CSR: The moderating effect of financial slack, workforce slack, and board gender diversity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Yao, Shouyu & Wang, Chunfeng & Cui, Xin & Fang, Zhenming, 2019. "Idiosyncratic skewness, gambling preference, and cross-section of stock returns: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 464-483.
    7. Tsai, Li-Chuan & Zhang, Ruhui & Zhao, Cuifang, 2020. "Can international supply chain induce a return premium? Evidence from U.S. leading high-technology firms and Taiwan stock market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).
    8. Bergbrant, Mikael & Kassa, Haimanot, 2021. "Is idiosyncratic volatility related to returns? Evidence from a subset of firms with quality idiosyncratic volatility estimates," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    9. R. Jared DeLisle & H. Zafer Yüksel & Gulnara R. Zaynutdinova, 2020. "What'S In A Name? A Cautionary Tale Of Profitability Anomalies And Limits To Arbitrage," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(2), pages 305-344, May.
    10. Fabio Pizzutilo, 2017. "Measuring the under-diversification of socially responsible investments," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(14), pages 1005-1018, August.
    11. Malagon, Juliana & Moreno, David & Rodríguez, Rosa, 2018. "Idiosyncratic volatility, conditional liquidity and stock returns," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 118-132.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Idiosyncratic risk; Corporate investment; Investor mispricing; Valuation Theory; Accruals; Anomaly; Profitability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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