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Does Short Selling Amplify Price Declines or Align Stocks with Their Fundamental Values?

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  • Asher Curtis

    (Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195)

  • Neil L. Fargher

    (College of Business and Economics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia)

Abstract

Critics of short selling argue that short sellers amplify price declines by targeting firms with falling prices in an unwarranted manner. Contrary to this viewpoint, we find that increases in short interest for firms following a price decline are associated with measures of overpricing based on financial statement analysis. Our results extend to short-selling activity following marketwide declines. We also find evidence consistent with the profitability of short selling following price declines being driven by valuation-based positions. Overall, our findings suggest short sellers primarily undertake valuation-based strategies following price declines and have implications for regulators. Limiting short selling following price declines is likely to impede efficient price discovery. This paper was accepted by Mary Barth, accounting .

Suggested Citation

  • Asher Curtis & Neil L. Fargher, 2014. "Does Short Selling Amplify Price Declines or Align Stocks with Their Fundamental Values?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(9), pages 2324-2340, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:60:y:2014:i:9:p:2324-2340
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2013.1872
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Eunju Lee, 2016. "Short selling and market mispricing," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 797-833, October.
    3. Luu, Ellie & Xu, Fangming & Zheng, Liyi, 2023. "Short-selling activities in the time of COVID-19," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    4. Zhaobo Zhu & Wenjie Ding & Yi Jin & Dehua Shen, 2023. "Dissecting the Idiosyncratic Volatility Puzzle: A Fundamental Analysis Approach," Post-Print hal-04194180, HAL.
    5. Lin, Yongjia & Wang, Yizhi & Fu, Xiaoqing (Maggie), 2022. "Margin purchases, short sales and stock return volatility in China: Evidence from the COVID-19 outbreak," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    6. Mazouz, Khelifa & Wu, Yuliang, 2022. "Why do firm fundamentals predict returns? Evidence from short selling activity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Kent Daniel & Alexander Klos & Simon Rottke, 2018. "The Dynamics of Disagreement," NBER Working Papers 25346, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Paul A. Griffin & Hyun A. Hong & Ivalina Kalcheva & Jeong‐Bon Kim, 2022. "Shorting activity and stock return predictability: Evidence from a mandatory disclosure shock," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 27-71, March.
    9. Zhu, Zhaobo & Duan, Xinrui & Sun, Licheng & Tu, Jun, 2019. "Momentum and reversal: The role of short selling," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 95-110.
    10. Geraci, Marco Valerio & Gnabo, Jean-Yves & Veredas, David, 2023. "Common short selling and excess comovement: Evidence from a sample of LSE stocks," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    11. Feng, Xunan & Chan, Kam C., 2016. "Information advantage, short sales, and stock returns: Evidence from short selling reform in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 131-142.
    12. Xufeng Liu & Die Wan, 2022. "Does short‐selling affect mutual fund shareholdings? Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(S1), pages 1887-1923, April.
    13. Pavlidis, Efthymios G. & Vasilopoulos, Kostas, 2020. "Speculative bubbles in segmented markets: Evidence from Chinese cross-listed stocks," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    14. Baixiao Liu & John J. McConnell & Andrew Schrowang, 2023. "The Effect of Short-Sale Restrictions on Corporate Managers," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-23, November.
    15. Geraci, Marco Valerio & Garbaravičius, Tomas & Veredas, David, 2018. "Short selling in extreme events," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 90-103.
    16. Tristan L. Botelho, 2018. "Here’s an Opportunity: Knowledge Sharing Among Competitors as a Response to Buy-in Uncertainty," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 1033-1055, December.
    17. Antonio Gargano & Juan Sotes-Paladino & Patrick Verwijmeren, 2022. "Short of Capital: Stock Market Implications of Short Sellers’ Losses," Working Papers 116, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    18. Tsai, Chia-Fen & Chang, Jung-Hsien & Tsai, Feng-Tse, 2021. "Lottery preferences and retail short selling," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    19. Haiyan Jiang & Ahsan Habib & Mostafa Monzur Hasan, 2022. "Short Selling: A Review of the Literature and Implications for Future Research," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 1-31, January.

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