Portfolio Diversification, Proximity Investment and City Agglomeration
Abstract
We study the puzzle of portfolio underdiversification and proximity investment from a novel perspective, linking it to the process of urbanization. We find that urban portfolios are more focused – i.e., less diversified and more concentrated in ‘close’ stocks. We explain it in terms of the process of ‘professional specialization’ that characterizes urban environments. We test this against a number of alternative theories: financial sophistication, social competition and hedging non-financial risk. We show that the very same factors behind the drive to city agglomeration also affect both the degree of portfolio diversification and proximity investing by influencing investor information and risk.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 4786.Length:
Date of creation: Dec 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4786
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Related research
Keywords: city agglomeration; portfolio choice; professional specialization; proximity investment; under-diversification;Other versions of this item:
- William N. Goetzmann & Massimo Massa & Andrei Simonov, 2005. "Portfolio Diversification, Proximity Investment and City Agglomeration," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm452, Yale School of Management.
- G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
- G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2005-06-14 (All new papers)
- NEP-FIN-2005-06-14 (Finance)
- NEP-GEO-2005-06-14 (Economic Geography)
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Charlotte Christiansen & Juanna Shröter Joensen & Jesper Rangvid, 2005.
"Do More Economists HOld Stocks?,"
Economics Working Papers
2005-6, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus.
- Christiansen, Charlotte & Joensen, Juanna Schröter & Rangvid, Jesper, 2005. "Do More Economists Hold Stocks?," Finance Research Group Working Papers F-2005-02, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Business Studies.
- Fu, Shihe & Shan, Liwei, 2011. "Agglomeration Economies and Local Comovement of Stock Returns," MPRA Paper 31887, University Library of Munich, Germany.
- Bodnaruk, Andriy & Ostberg, Per, 2009. "Does investor recognition predict returns?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 208-226, February.
- Leung, Charles Ka Yui & Teo, Wing Leong, 2010.
"Should the optimal portfolio be region-specific? A multi-region model with monetary policy and asset price co-movements,"
MPRA Paper
28216, University Library of Munich, Germany.
- Leung, Charles Ka Yui & Teo, Wing Leong, 2011. "Should the optimal portfolio be region-specific? A multi-region model with monetary policy and asset price co-movements," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 293-304, May.
- Margarida Abreu & Victor Mendes & João A. Santos, 2010.
"Home Country Bias: Does Domestic Experience Help Investors Enter Foreign Markets?,"
Working Papers
2010/02, Department of Economics at the School of Economics and Management (ISEG), Technical University of Lisbon..
- Abreu, Margarida & Mendes, Victor & Santos, João A.C., 2011. "Home country bias: Does domestic experience help investors enter foreign markets?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2330-2340, September.
- Morse, Adair & Shive, Sophie, 2011. "Patriotism in your portfolio," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 411-440, May.
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