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Order imbalances and market efficiency: New evidence from the Chinese stock market

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  • Zhang, Ting
  • Gu, Gao-Feng
  • Zhou, Wei-Xing

Abstract

This paper differentiates order imbalances based on trader categories. The daily order imbalances are highly persistent, especially for the number-measured imbalances. That the price pressure caused by imbalances cannot last beyond a trading day indicates that China's stock market is efficient enough to absorb the imbalances. We find that large individuals, small individuals and small institutions act frequently as market makers by submitting non-marketable limit orders, and the market making activities are profitable for small individuals and institutions. The evidence indicates that individuals are noise or liquidity traders, while institutions are more likely to be informed traders.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Ting & Gu, Gao-Feng & Zhou, Wei-Xing, 2019. "Order imbalances and market efficiency: New evidence from the Chinese stock market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 458-467.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ememar:v:38:y:2019:i:c:p:458-467
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2018.12.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Ting Zhang & George J. Jiang & Wei‐Xing Zhou, 2021. "Order imbalance and stock returns: New evidence from the Chinese stock market," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2809-2836, June.
    2. Akyildirim, Erdinc & Sensoy, Ahmet & Gulay, Guzhan & Corbet, Shaen & Salari, Hajar Novin, 2021. "Big data analytics, order imbalance and the predictability of stock returns," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Wen-Juan Xu & Chen-Yang Zhong & Fei Ren & Tian Qiu & Rong-Da Chen & Yun-Xin He & Li-Xin Zhong, 2020. "Evolutionary dynamics in financial markets with heterogeneities in strategies and risk tolerance," Papers 2010.08962, arXiv.org.
    4. Zhang, Sijia & Gregoriou, Andros, 2021. "The impact of order flow on event study returns: New evidence from zero-leverage firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 627-634.
    5. Xiaojun Chu & Jianying Qiu, 2021. "Forecasting stock returns using first half an hour order imbalance," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 3236-3245, July.
    6. Badal Khan & Muhammad Aqil & Syed Hasnain Alam Kazmi & Syed Imran Zaman, 2023. "Day‐of‐the‐week effect and market liquidity: A comparative study from emerging stock markets of Asia†," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 544-561, January.
    7. Yutong Lu & Gesine Reinert & Mihai Cucuringu, 2022. "Trade Co-occurrence, Trade Flow Decomposition, and Conditional Order Imbalance in Equity Markets," Papers 2209.10334, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.

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