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Uncertainty avoidance and mutual funds

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  • Keswani, Aneel
  • Medhat, Mamdouh
  • Miguel, Antonio F.
  • Ramos, Sofia B.

Abstract

We study how culture influences mutual funds around the world. Uncertainty Avoidance (UA), which is related to ambiguity aversion, is negatively associated with flow-performance sensitivity, deviation from the fund benchmark, fund alpha, and the fraction of active management across the 25 countries in our sample. This is true even when controlling for an exhaustive set of fund- and country-level characteristics. We also find that a fund's deviation from its benchmark is not only affected by the UA of its domicile country but also by the UA of its fund family's country of origin. Our results highlight the importance of considering cultural characteristics, and UA in particular, when studying mutual funds across countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Keswani, Aneel & Medhat, Mamdouh & Miguel, Antonio F. & Ramos, Sofia B., 2020. "Uncertainty avoidance and mutual funds," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:65:y:2020:i:c:s0929119920301929
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2020.101748
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    Cited by:

    1. Tanos, Barbara Abou, 2022. "Culture and mutual funds’ performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    2. Luo, Deming & Jiang, Sainan & Yao, Zhongwei, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and mutual fund risk shifting," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Katarzyna Perez & £ukasz Szymczyk, 2022. "Actual rate of the management fee in mutual funds of different styles," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(4), pages 969-1014, December.
    4. Chen, Yihao & Miguel, Antonio F. & Liu, Xiayue, 2021. "Does mutual fund family size matter? International evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Lu, Shuai & Li, Shouwei, 2023. "Is institutional herding efficient? Evidence from an investment efficiency and informational network perspective," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    6. Les Coleman, 2023. "Explaining mutual fund behavior through the structure‐conduct‐performance lens," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 2874-2884, July.
    7. Fetherolf, Raylin & Lovelace, Kelley Bergsma, 2023. "Dimensions of national culture and R2 around the world," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    8. Linn K. Aasheim & António F. Miguel & Sofia B. Ramos, 2022. "Star rating, fund flows and performance predictability: evidence from Norway," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 36(1), pages 29-56, March.
    9. Gangi, Francesco & Mustilli, Mario & Varrone, Nicola & Graziano, Domenico, 2023. "Target firms’ characteristics and the effects of sovereign wealth funds’ investments: Does cultural context of SWFs matter?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mutual funds; Culture; Uncertainty avoidance; Fund flows; Ambiguity; Knightian uncertainty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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