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Why did the equity home bias fall during the financial panic of 2008?

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  • Matthew M. Wynter

Abstract

Investors tend to put most of their wealth in local stocks; theories of portfolio choice and uncertainty aversion jointly predict that this home bias should increase during a financial crisis. Yet, using a sample of 45 countries, I document that the equity home bias fell during the financial panic of 2008. Exploiting bilateral stock holdings, I find that investors actively increased their home bias, but large valuation changes subsumed these trades. Across countries, the change in home bias is consistent with partial portfolio rebalancing and increased information asymmetries during the crisis.

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  • Matthew M. Wynter, 2019. "Why did the equity home bias fall during the financial panic of 2008?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 1343-1372, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:42:y:2019:i:5:p:1343-1372
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.12754
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    2. 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).

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