IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecb/ecbwps/20242924.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is home bias biased? New evidence from the investment fund sector

Author

Listed:
  • Lambert, Claudia
  • Molestina Vivar, Luis
  • Wedow, Michael

Abstract

Investment funds hold a disproportionately larger fraction of domestic relative to foreign stocks. Stock market development and familiarity (language and distance) are considered key determinants for home bias. The literature neglects however that investors often invest in foreign funds domiciled in financial centers. We use a “look-through approach” to account for this misclassification. First, we find substantially smaller home bias estimates compared to those in the literature. Second, the explanatory power of plausible home bias determinants is lower than previously documented. Third, familiarity only plays a meaningful role when investors are households, highlighting the role of investor sophistication. JEL Classification: G11, G15, G23

Suggested Citation

  • Lambert, Claudia & Molestina Vivar, Luis & Wedow, Michael, 2024. "Is home bias biased? New evidence from the investment fund sector," Working Paper Series 2924, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20242924
    Note: 1559770
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/pdf/scpwps/ecb.wp2924~b1233846e9.en.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mazur I. & Sapachuk Y., 2009. "The reasons of the financial crisis under globalization," Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Economics. Вісник Киiвського нацiонального унiверситету iм. Тараса Шевченка. Серiя: Економiка, CyberLeninka;Издательско-полиграфический центр «Киевский университет», issue 109, pages 9-13.
    2. Nicolas Coeurdacier & Hélène Rey, 2013. "Home Bias in Open Economy Financial Macroeconomics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 63-115, March.
    3. Karen K. Lewis, 1999. "Trying to Explain Home Bias in Equities and Consumption," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(2), pages 571-608, June.
    4. Harald Hau & Helene Rey, 2008. "Home Bias at the Fund Level," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 333-338, May.
    5. Fidora, Michael & Fratzscher, Marcel & Thimann, Christian, 2007. "Home bias in global bond and equity markets: The role of real exchange rate volatility," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 631-655, June.
    6. Wallmeier, Martin & Iseli, Christoph, 2022. "Home bias and expected returns: A structural approach," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    7. Lane, Philip R. & Milesi-Ferretti, Gian Maria, 2001. "The external wealth of nations: measures of foreign assets and liabilities for industrial and developing countries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 263-294, December.
    8. Chang, Chun & Liu, Zheng & Spiegel, Mark M., 2015. "Capital controls and optimal Chinese monetary policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-15.
    9. Philip R Lane & Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2011. "The Cross-Country Incidence of the Global Crisis," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 59(1), pages 77-110, April.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1shj1p7td8e0r5c9fcsnk8a91 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Beck, Roland & Coppola, Antonio & Lewis, Angus & Maggiori, Matteo & Schmitz, Martin & Schreger, Jesse, 2023. "The Geography of Capital Allocation in the Euro Area," Research Papers 4102, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    12. Daly, Kevin & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2013. "The determinants of home bias puzzle in equity portfolio investment in Australia," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 34-42.
    13. Alfaro, Laura & Chari, Anusha & Kanczuk, Fabio, 2017. "The real effects of capital controls: Firm-level evidence from a policy experiment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 191-210.
    14. William N. Goetzmann & Alok Kumar, 2008. "Equity Portfolio Diversification," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(3), pages 433-463.
    15. Dahlquist, Magnus & Pinkowitz, Lee & Stulz, René M. & Williamson, Rohan, 2003. "Corporate Governance and the Home Bias," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 87-110, March.
    16. Mr. Gian M Milesi-Ferretti & Ms. Natalia T. Tamirisa & Mr. Francesco Strobbe, 2010. "Bilateral Financial Linkages and Global Imbalances: a View on The Eve of the Financial Crisis," IMF Working Papers 2010/257, International Monetary Fund.
    17. French, Kenneth R & Poterba, James M, 1991. "Investor Diversification and International Equity Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 222-226, May.
    18. Gabriel Zucman, 2013. "The Missing Wealth of Nations: Are Europe and the U.S. net Debtors or net Creditors?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(3), pages 1321-1364.
    19. Beck, Roland & Coppola, Antonio & Lewis, Angus & Maggiori, Matteo & Schmitz, Martin & Schreger, Jesse, 2023. "The Geography of Capital Allocation in the Euro Area," SocArXiv rzwd2, Center for Open Science.
    20. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    21. Karolyi, G. Andrew & Stulz, Rene M., 2003. "Are financial assets priced locally or globally?," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 16, pages 975-1020, Elsevier.
    22. David Schumacher, 2018. "Home Bias Abroad: Domestic Industries and Foreign Portfolio Choice," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 1654-1706.
    23. Lee, Junyong & Lee, Kyounghun & Oh, Frederick Dongchuhl, 2023. "International portfolio diversification and the home bias puzzle," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    24. Maurice Obstfeld & Kenneth Rogoff, 2001. "The Six Major Puzzles in International Macroeconomics: Is There a Common Cause?," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2000, Volume 15, pages 339-412, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Alberto Felettigh & Paola Monti, 2008. "How to interpret the CPIS data on the distribution of foreign portfolio assets in the presence of sizeable cross-border positions in mutual funds. Evidence for Italy and the main euro-area countries," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 16, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    26. Cooper, Ian & Sercu, Piet & Vanpée, Rosanne, 2013. "The Equity Home Bias Puzzle: A Survey," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 7(4), pages 289-416, December.
    27. Veronika K. Pool & Noah Stoffman & Scott E. Yonker, 2012. "No Place Like Home: Familiarity in Mutual Fund Manager Portfolio Choice," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(8), pages 2563-2599.
    28. Carvalho, Daniel, 2022. "The portfolio holdings of euro area investors: Looking through investment funds," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    29. William F. Sharpe, 1964. "Capital Asset Prices: A Theory Of Market Equilibrium Under Conditions Of Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 19(3), pages 425-442, September.
    30. James R. Hines & Eric M. Rice, 1994. "Fiscal Paradise: Foreign Tax Havens and American Business," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(1), pages 149-182.
    31. Karlsson, Anders & Norden, Lars, 2007. "Home sweet home: Home bias and international diversification among individual investors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 317-333, February.
    32. Clemens Sialm & Zheng Sun & Lu Zheng, 2020. "Home Bias and Local Contagion: Evidence from Funds of Hedge Funds," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(10), pages 4771-4810.
    33. Ahearne, Alan G. & Griever, William L. & Warnock, Francis E., 2004. "Information costs and home bias: an analysis of US holdings of foreign equities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 313-336, March.
    34. Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro, 2008. "The colors of investors' money: The role of institutional investors around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 499-533, June.
    35. Adler, Michael & Dumas, Bernard, 1983. "International Portfolio Choice and Corporation Finance: A Synthesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(3), pages 925-984, June.
    36. Lau, Sie Ting & Ng, Lilian & Zhang, Bohui, 2010. "The world price of home bias," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 191-217, August.
    37. Konara, Palitha, 2020. "The role of language connectedness in reducing home bias in trade, investment, information, and people flows," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    38. Hu, Chenyue, 2020. "Industrial specialization matters: A new angle on equity home Bias," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lee, Junyong & Lee, Kyounghun & Oh, Frederick Dongchuhl, 2023. "International portfolio diversification and the home bias puzzle," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Junyong Lee & Kyounghun Lee & Frederick Dongchuhl Oh, 2023. "Religion and Equity Home Bias," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 34(5), pages 1015-1038, November.
    3. Eduard Gaar & David Scherer & Dirk Schiereck, 2022. "The home bias and the local bias: A survey," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 21-57, February.
    4. Nicolas Coeurdacier & Hélène Rey, 2013. "Home Bias in Open Economy Financial Macroeconomics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 63-115, March.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Anil Mishra, 2011. "Australia’s equity home bias and real exchange rate volatility," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 223-244, August.
    7. Daly, Kevin & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2013. "The determinants of home bias puzzle in equity portfolio investment in Australia," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 34-42.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1shj1p7td8e0r5c9fcsnk8a91 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Mishra, Anil V., 2015. "Measures of equity home bias puzzle," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 293-312.
    10. Filippo De Marco & Marco Macchiavelli & Rosen Valchev, 2018. "Beyond Home Bias: Portfolio Holdings and Information Heterogeneity," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 942, Boston College Department of Economics.
    11. Carpio, Ronaldo & Guo, Meixin & Liu, Yuan & Pyun, Ju Hyun, 2021. "Wealth heterogeneity, information acquisition and equity home bias: Evidence from U.S. household surveys of consumer finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    12. Socaciu, Erzsébet-Mirjám & Nagy, Bálint-Zsolt & Benedek, Botond, 2023. "No place like home: Home bias and flight-to-quality in Group of Seven countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    13. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2015. "Education and the local equity bias around the world," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 65-88.
    14. Nicolas Coeurdacier & Hélène Rey, 2010. "Home bias in open economy financial macroeconomics," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01069440, HAL.
    15. Giofré, Maela, 2013. "International diversification: Households versus institutional investors," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 145-176.
    16. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Mönkemeyer, Marwin & Requejo, Ignacio & Schröder, Henning, 2023. "Foreign bias in institutional portfolio allocation: The role of social trust," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 233-269.
    17. Beck, Roland & Coppola, Antonio & Lewis, Angus & Maggiori, Matteo & Schmitz, Martin & Schreger, Jesse, 2023. "The Geography of Capital Allocation in the Euro Area," SocArXiv rzwd2, Center for Open Science.
    18. Mishra, Anil V., 2016. "Foreign bias in Australian-domiciled mutual fund holdings," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 101-123.
    19. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2014. "The role of education in equity portfolios during the recent financial crisis," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-26, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    21. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Mishra, Anil V. & Ratti, Ronald A., 2011. "Governance, monitoring and foreign investment in Chinese companies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 171-188, June.
    23. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2015. "Education and the local equity bias around the world," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-76, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    24. Mishra, Anil V. & Ratti, Ronald A., 2013. "Home bias and cross border taxation," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 169-193.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cross-border portfolio; financial centers; home bias; investment funds;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20242924. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Official Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emieude.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.