IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finmar/v13y2010i4p422-447.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

International asset allocation for incompletely-informed investors

Author

Listed:
  • Gau, Yin-Feng
  • Hua, Mingshu
  • Wu, Wen-Lin

Abstract

This study explains the home bias puzzle by examining the effect of information quality on the asset allocation decisions. Our calibration results based on MSCI data indicate that in order to hedge for the changing quality of the information, when updating their estimates of expected returns of foreign assets, those agents who are partially informed and relatively more conservative will tend to hold fewer foreign assets than completely-informed agents. Furthermore, the magnitude of home bias in the portfolio of partially-informed agents decreases with the precision of their estimates and the instantaneous correlation between the returns of the home and foreign assets.

Suggested Citation

  • Gau, Yin-Feng & Hua, Mingshu & Wu, Wen-Lin, 2010. "International asset allocation for incompletely-informed investors," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 422-447, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:13:y:2010:i:4:p:422-447
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386-4181(10)00021-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mehra, Rajnish & Prescott, Edward C., 1985. "The equity premium: A puzzle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 145-161, March.
    2. Portes, Richard & Rey, Helene, 2005. "The determinants of cross-border equity flows," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 269-296, March.
    3. R. Gaston Gelos & Shang‐Jin Wei, 2005. "Transparency and International Portfolio Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2987-3020, December.
    4. Baele, Lieven & Pungulescu, Crina & Ter Horst, Jenke, 2007. "Model uncertainty, financial market integration and the home bias puzzle," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 606-630, June.
    5. Dothan, Michael U & Feldman, David, 1986. "Equilibrium Interest Rates and Multiperiod Bonds in a Partially Observable Economy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(2), pages 369-382, June.
    6. Lundtofte, Frederik, 2008. "Expected life-time utility and hedging demands in a partially observable economy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6), pages 1072-1096, August.
    7. Shiller, Robert J & Kon-Ya, Fumiko & Tsutsui, Yoshiro, 1996. "Why Did the Nikkei Crash? Expanding the Scope of Expectations Data Collection," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(1), pages 156-164, February.
    8. Pietro Veronesi, "undated". "How Does Information Quality Affect Stock Returns?," CRSP working papers 361, Center for Research in Security Prices, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.
    9. Torben Lütje & Lukas Menkhoff, 2007. "What drives home bias? Evidence from fund managers' views," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 21-35.
    10. Barry, Christopher B, 1974. "Portfolio Analysis under Uncertain Means, Variances, and Covariances," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 515-522, May.
    11. De Santis, Robert A. & Gérard, Bruno, 2009. "International portfolio reallocation: Diversification benefits and European monetary union," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(8), pages 1010-1027, November.
    12. Brennan, Michael J & Cao, H Henry, 1997. "International Portfolio Investment Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(5), pages 1851-1880, December.
    13. Huberman, Gur, 2001. "Familiarity Breeds Investment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 659-680.
    14. Frank Riedel, 2000. "Decreasing Yield Curves in a Model with an Unknown Constant Growth Rate," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 4(1), pages 51-67.
    15. Hasan, Iftekhar & Simaan, Yusif, 2000. "A rational explanation for home country bias," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 331-361, June.
    16. French, Kenneth R & Poterba, James M, 1991. "Investor Diversification and International Equity Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 222-226, May.
    17. M. J. Brennan, 1998. "The Role of Learning in Dynamic Portfolio Decisions," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 1(3), pages 295-306.
    18. Burger, John D. & Warnock, Francis E., 2007. "Foreign participation in local currency bond markets," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 291-304.
    19. Zhou, Chunsheng, 1998. "Dynamic portfolio choice and asset pricing with differential information," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 22(7), pages 1027-1051, May.
    20. Karolyi, G. Andrew & Stulz, Rene M., 2003. "Are financial assets priced locally or globally?," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 16, pages 975-1020, Elsevier.
    21. Massa, Massimo & Simonov, Andrei, 2005. "Is learning a dimension of risk?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 2605-2632, October.
    22. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    23. Brown, S., 1979. "The Effect of Estimation Risk on Capital Market Equilibrium," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 215-220, June.
    24. David Feldman, 2007. "Incomplete information equilibria: Separation theorems and other myths," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 119-149, April.
    25. David Feldman, 2003. "The Term Structure of Interest Rates: Bounded or Falling?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 7(1), pages 103-113.
    26. Pietro Veronesi, 2000. "How Does Information Quality Affect Stock Returns?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 807-837, April.
    27. Massimo Massa & Andrei Simonov, 2006. "Hedging, Familiarity and Portfolio Choice," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 633-685.
    28. Baele, Lieven & Inghelbrecht, Koen, 2009. "Time-varying Integration and International diversification strategies," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 368-387, June.
    29. Kang, Jun-Koo & Stulz, Rene M., 1997. "Why is there a home bias? An analysis of foreign portfolio equity ownership in Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 3-28, October.
    30. David Feldman, 1989. "The Term Structure of Interest Rates in a Partially Observable Economy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(3), pages 789-812, July.
    31. Kent D. Daniel & David Hirshleifer & Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2001. "Overconfidence, Arbitrage, and Equilibrium Asset Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 921-965, June.
    32. Griffin, John M. & Andrew Karolyi, G., 1998. "Another look at the role of the industrial structure of markets for international diversification strategies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 351-373, December.
    33. Ueda, Michiko, 1999. "Incomplete observation, filtering, and the home bias puzzle," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 75-80, January.
    34. Frederik Lundtofte, 2009. "Can An 'Estimation Factor' Help Explain Cross-Sectional Returns?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5-6), pages 705-724.
    35. Mark Grinblatt & Matti Keloharju, 2001. "How Distance, Language, and Culture Influence Stockholdings and Trades," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 1053-1073, June.
    36. Alexandre Ziegler, 2000. "Optimal Portfolio Choice under Heterogeneous Beliefs," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-19.
    37. Karlsson, Anders & Norden, Lars, 2007. "Home sweet home: Home bias and international diversification among individual investors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 317-333, February.
    38. Ahearne, Alan G. & Griever, William L. & Warnock, Francis E., 2004. "Information costs and home bias: an analysis of US holdings of foreign equities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 313-336, March.
    39. Adler, Michael & Dumas, Bernard, 1983. "International Portfolio Choice and Corporation Finance: A Synthesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(3), pages 925-984, June.
    40. Chan, Kalok & Menkveld, Albert J. & Yang, Zhishu, 2007. "The informativeness of domestic and foreign investors' stock trades: Evidence from the perfectly segmented Chinese market," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 391-415, November.
    41. Detemple, Jerome B., 1991. "Further results on asset pricing with incomplete information," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 425-453, July.
    42. Friend, Irwin & Blume, Marshall E, 1975. "The Demand for Risky Assets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 65(5), pages 900-922, December.
    43. Nicholas Barberis & Ming Huang & Tano Santos, 2001. "Prospect Theory and Asset Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(1), pages 1-53.
    44. Tony Berrada, 2009. "Bounded Rationality and Asset Pricing with Intermediate Consumption," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 13(4), pages 693-725.
    45. Frederik Lundtofte, 2006. "The Effect of Information Quality on Optimal Portfolio Choice," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 41(2), pages 157-185, May.
    46. Nicholas Barberis, 2000. "Investing for the Long Run when Returns Are Predictable," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 225-264, February.
    47. Detemple, Jerome B, 1986. "Asset Pricing in a Production Economy with Incomplete Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(2), pages 383-391, June.
    48. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 2.
    49. Pietro Veronesi, "undated". "How Does Information Quality Affect Stock Returns?," CRSP working papers 462, Center for Research in Security Prices, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.
    50. Heston, Steven L. & Rouwenhorst, K. Geert, 1994. "Does industrial structure explain the benefits of international diversification?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 3-27, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael Donadelli, 2013. "Global integration and emerging stock market excess returns," Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 244-279, September.
    2. Carpio, Ronaldo & Guo, Meixin & Liu, Yuan & Pyun, Ju Hyun, 2021. "Wealth heterogeneity, information acquisition and equity home bias: Evidence from U.S. household surveys of consumer finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Wen-Lin Wu & Yin-Feng Gau, 2017. "Home bias in portfolio choices: social learning among partially informed agents," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 527-556, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wen-Lin Wu & Yin-Feng Gau, 2017. "Home bias in portfolio choices: social learning among partially informed agents," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 527-556, February.
    2. Nicolas Coeurdacier & Hélène Rey, 2013. "Home Bias in Open Economy Financial Macroeconomics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 63-115, March.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1shj1p7td8e0r5c9fcsnk8a91 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Anil Mishra, 2011. "Australia’s equity home bias and real exchange rate volatility," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 223-244, August.
    8. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2015. "Education and the local equity bias around the world," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 65-88.
    9. Eduard Gaar & David Scherer & Dirk Schiereck, 2022. "The home bias and the local bias: A survey," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 21-57, February.
    10. Daly, Kevin & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2013. "The determinants of home bias puzzle in equity portfolio investment in Australia," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 34-42.
    11. David Feldman, 2007. "Incomplete information equilibria: Separation theorems and other myths," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 119-149, April.
    12. 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).
    13. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2015. "Education and the local equity bias around the world," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-76, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    14. Karolyi, G. Andrew & Ng, David T. & Prasad, Eswar S., 2020. "The Coming Wave: Where Do Emerging Market Investors Put Their Money?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 1369-1414, June.
    15. Baltzer, Markus & Stolper, Oscar & Walter, Andreas, 2013. "Is local bias a cross-border phenomenon? Evidence from individual investors’ international asset allocation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2823-2835.
    16. Udichibarna Bose & Ronald MacDonald & Serafeim Tsoukas, 2014. "The role of education in equity portfolios during the recent financial crisis," Working Papers 2014_17, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    17. Sorensen, Bent E. & Wu, Yi-Tsung & Yosha, Oved & Zhu, Yu, 2007. "Home bias and international risk sharing: Twin puzzles separated at birth," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 587-605, June.
    18. Coeurdacier, Nicolas & Guibaud, Stéphane, 2011. "International portfolio diversification is better than you think," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 289-308, March.
    19. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2014. "The role of education in equity portfolios during the recent financial crisis," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-26, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    20. Mondria, Jordi & Wu, Thomas, 2010. "The puzzling evolution of the home bias, information processing and financial openness," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 875-896, May.
    21. Paul Hallwood & Ronald MacDonald, 2014. "Picking The Right Budget Constraint For Scotland," Working Papers 2014_18, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    22. Mishra, Anil V., 2015. "Measures of equity home bias puzzle," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 293-312.
    23. Fang Cai & Francis E. Warnock, 2004. "International diversification at home and abroad," International Finance Discussion Papers 793, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    24. Jonathan Batten & Xuan Vinh Vo, 2010. "The determinates of equity portfolio holdings," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(14), pages 1125-1132.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:13:y:2010:i:4:p:422-447. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/finmar .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.