This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

High-Speed Natural Selection in Financial Markets with Large State Spaces

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Fedyk, Yuriy (Olin School of Business)
Walden, Johan () (Haas School of Business)
Abstract

Recent research has suggested that natural selection in financial markets may be a very slow process, taking hundreds of years. We show in a general equilibrium model that it may be much faster in markets with large state spaces. In many cases, the time it takes to wipe out irrational investors is inversely proportional to the number of stocks in the market, i.e., if it takes about 500 years with one stock, it takes about one year with 500 stocks. Thus, theoretically, natural selection can be very efficient even when there is high market uncertainty. The speed of the natural selection process is a known function of irrational investors' sentiment and of the real characteristics of the stock market. According to a calibration to U.S. stock data, it takes about fifty years for an irrational investor to be wiped out. This is in line with studies of individual investor underperformance.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.sifr.org/PDFs/sifr-wp52.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for Financial Research in its series SIFR Research Report Series with number 52.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 38 pages
Date of creation: 15 Apr 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:sifrwp:0052

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Institute for Financial Research Drottninggatan 89, SE-113 60 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46-8-728-5120
Fax: +46-8-728-5130
Email:
Web page: http://www.sifr.org/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Anki Helmer).

Related research
Keywords: Asset pricing; Market selection hypothesis; Natural selection;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Kaplan, Steven & Strömberg, Per Johan, 2002. "Characteristics, Contracts and Actions: Evidence from Venture Capitalist Analyses," CEPR Discussion Papers 3243, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Geir H. Bjønnes & Steinar Holden & Dagfinn Rime & Haakon O.Aa. Solheim, 2005. "“Large” vs. “small” players: A closer look at the dynamics of speculative attacks," Working Paper 2005/13, Norges Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Giannetti, Mariassunta & Yu, Xiaoyun, 2007. "Favoritism or Markets in Capital Allocation?," SIFR Research Report Series 50, Institute for Financial Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Sundaram, Rangarajan K. & Yermack, David, 2006. "Pay Me Later: Inside Debt and Its Role in Managerial Compensation," SIFR Research Report Series 43, Institute for Financial Research. [Downloadable!]
  5. Morgan, Donald & Rime, Bertrand & Strahan, Philip E., 2004. "Bank Integration and State Business Cycles," SIFR Research Report Series 30, Institute for Financial Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Bortolotti, Bernardo & de Jong, Frank & Nicodano, Giovanna & Schindele, Ibolya, 2004. "Privatization and Stock Market Liquidity," CEPR Discussion Papers 4449, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS indexes over 800000 items of research in Economics alone.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-22.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.