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What makes investors over or underweight? explaining international appetites for foreign equities

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  • Carol C. Bertaut
  • Linda S. Kole
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    Abstract

    Using data from the IMF Coordinated Portfolio Investment Surveys conducted in 2001, we analyze the determinants of 31 countries' international equity holdings. We show that investors in all countries underweight U.S. equities in their portfolios, many by more than they underweight foreign equities in general. Such behavior is surprising given the common perception of the United States as a desirable investment destination due to its well-developed legal and regulatory environment. Instead we find that investors in some countries are overweight in equities from other countries with which they have close regional or political ties. Such ties, along with distance, trade, issuance of U.S. ADRs or cross-listing on the London Stock exchange, market concentration, and estimated betas, help explain patterns of diversification. However, even when all these variables are included, we find significant fixed effects for most countries, suggesting that a considerable amount of cross-country variation in investment positions and in home bias remains to be explained. Our work confirms previous findings and extends results most completely documented for the United States to other major investor countries. But it also suggests caution should be used when interpreting results derived from studies of one or a few countries.

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    Bibliographic Info

    Paper provided by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.) in its series International Finance Discussion Papers with number 819.

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    Date of creation: 2004
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    Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:819

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    Keywords: Investments; Foreign ; International finance;

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    1. Bekaert, Geert & Harvey, Campbell R., 2003. "Emerging markets finance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(1-2), pages 3-56, February.
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    16. 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(01), pages 87-110, March.
    17. Ren� M Stultz, 1984. "Pricing Capital Assets in an International Setting: An Introduction," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(3), pages 55-73, September.
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    Cited by:
    1. Ahmed Zoromé, 2007. "Concept of Offshore Financial Centers: In Search of an Operational Definition," IMF Working Papers 07/87, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Kristin J. Forbes, 2008. "Why do foreigners invest in the United States?," Working Paper Series 2008-27, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    3. Philip R. Lane & Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2006. "Capital Flows to Central and Eastern Europe," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp161, IIIS.
    4. Anne Marie Gleeson & Frances Ruane, 2006. "Export dynamics in Small Open Economies: Indigenous Irish Manufacturing Exports, 1985-2003," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp140, IIIS.
    5. Philip Lane & Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2005. "The International Equity Holdings of Euro Area Investors," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp104, IIIS.

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