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Is "voting with your feet" an effective mutual fund governance mechanism?

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  • Qian, Meijun

Abstract

Investors in open-end mutual funds can vote with their feet by withdrawing assets from or adding assets to these funds. This paper assesses the effectiveness of this market discipline mechanism by investigating whether voting with the feet prevents the abusive practices that led to the 2003-2004 trading scandals. The research results indicate that funds with higher flow sensitivity--that is, a higher density of vigilant clients--have lower arbitrage potential and fewer abnormal flows, which in turn implies less opportunistic trading. As a result, these funds have a lower probability of being implicated in scandals. These findings suggest that investor ability to withdraw assets from or add assets to the funds is an effective mutual fund governance mechanism. In funds with less sophisticated investors who cannot use this option, other means of governance are especially important.

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  • Qian, Meijun, 2011. "Is "voting with your feet" an effective mutual fund governance mechanism?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 45-61, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:17:y:2011:i:1:p:45-61
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    2. Helwege, Jean & Intintoli, Vincent J. & Zhang, Andrew, 2012. "Voting with their feet or activism? Institutional investors’ impact on CEO turnover," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 22-37.
    3. Xuejun Jin & Yifan Shen & Bin Yu & Meifen Qian, 2022. "Flow‐driven risk shifting of high‐performing funds," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 71-100, March.
    4. Huang, Chia-Wei, 2015. "Takeover vulnerability and the credibility of signaling: The case of open-market share repurchases," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 405-417.
    5. Vladimir Atanasov & Thomas Hall & Vladimir Ivanov & Katherine Litvak, 2019. "The Impact of Public Pension Funds and Other Limited Partners on the Governance of Venture Capital Funds," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(01), pages 1-28, March.
    6. Muhammad Ali Jibran Qamar & Faisal Khalil & Waheed Akhtar, 2016. "Corporate Governance Culture Transmission in Mutual Funds: Directors as Vector of Transmission," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(2), pages 175-183, April.
    7. Qian, Meijun & Tanyeri, Başak, 2017. "Litigation and mutual-fund runs," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 119-135.
    8. Ayadi, Mohamed A. & Kryzanowski, Lawrence & Mohebshahedin, Mahmood, 2018. "Impact of sponsorship on fixed-income fund performance," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 121-137.
    9. Clemens Sialm & T. Mandy Tham, 2016. "Spillover Effects in Mutual Fund Companies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(5), pages 1472-1486, May.
    10. Vo, Thi Thuy Anh & Dang, Tung Lam & Dang, Man & Hoang, Viet Anh, 2021. "Institutional ownership and commonality in liquidity," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    11. Ching-Lung Chen & Chung-Yu Chen, 2018. "Do Weak Internal Controls Affect Institutional Ownership Decisions?," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(03), pages 1-37, September.
    12. Raluca Roman, 2015. "Shareholder activism in banking," Research Working Paper RWP 15-9, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    13. Chen, Ching-Lung & Weng, Pei-Yu & Chien, Chu-Yang, 2018. "Qualified foreign institutional investor ownership deregulation and the restatement of financial reports --- empirical findings from Taiwan," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 465-485.
    14. Hoang, Lai T. & Wee, Marvin & Yang, Joey Wenling, 2023. "Strategic trading by insiders in the presence of institutional investors," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

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