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Price clustering and the stability of stock prices

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  • Blau, Benjamin M.
  • Griffith, Todd G.

Abstract

Understanding factors that influence volatility is vital to analysts, investment professionals, and firm managers. In this study, we take a non-traditional approach to identify the determinants of volatility by examining how frictions in the formation of prices affect the stability of stock prices. In particular, we test the hypothesis that clustering on round pricing increments will result in more volatile financial markets. A possible explanation for clustering-induced volatility may be that stocks with a greater degree of clustering will have less informative prices and thus exhibit greater volatility. Our multivariate tests seem to confirm our hypothesis as we observe a strong, positive relation between price clustering and stock price volatility. A variety of additional tests suggest that causation flows from clustering to volatility instead of the other way around.

Suggested Citation

  • Blau, Benjamin M. & Griffith, Todd G., 2016. "Price clustering and the stability of stock prices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 3933-3942.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:69:y:2016:i:10:p:3933-3942
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.06.008
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    Cited by:

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    3. Baig , Ahmed & Blau , Ben & Hao, Jie, 2020. "Accounting Information Quality and the Clustering of Stock Prices," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 23(2), pages 182-210, November.
    4. Ahmed Baig & Nasim Sabah & Drew Winters, 2019. "Have Stock Prices become more Uniformly Distributed?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(2), pages 1242-1250.
    5. Frantisek Darena & Jonas Petrovsky & Jan Zizka & Jan Prichystal, 2016. "Analyzing the correlation between online texts and stock price movements at micro-level using machine learning," MENDELU Working Papers in Business and Economics 2016-67, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    6. Dyl, Edward A. & Yuksel, H. Zafer & Zaynutdinova, Gulnara R., 2019. "Price reversals and price continuations following large price movements," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 1-12.
    7. František Dařena & Jan Přichystal, 2018. "Analysis of the Association between Topics in Online Documents and Stock Price Movements," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 66(6), pages 1431-1439.
    8. Ahmed Baig & Benjamin M. Blau & Todd G. Griffith, 2021. "Firm Opacity and the Clustering of Stock Prices: the Case of Financial Intermediaries," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 187-206, December.
    9. Donglian Ma & Hisashi Tanizaki, 2022. "Intraday patterns of price clustering in Bitcoin," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-25, December.
    10. Mishra, Ajay Kumar & Tripathy, Trilochan, 2018. "Price and trade size clustering: Evidence from the national stock exchange of India," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 63-72.
    11. Vladim'ir Hol'y & Petra Tomanov'a, 2021. "Modeling Price Clustering in High-Frequency Prices," Papers 2102.12112, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2021.
    12. Ahmed S. Baig & Benjamin M. Blau & R. Jared DeLisle, 2022. "Does mutual fund ownership reduce stock price clustering? Evidence from active and index funds," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 615-647, February.
    13. Hachicha, Fatma & Masmoudi, Afif & Abid, Ilyes & Obeid, Hassan, 2023. "Herding behavior in exploring the predictability of price clustering in cryptocurrency market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
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    16. Chen, Fu & Huang, Zhi-xiong & Wang, Fang & Xie, Zongyu, 2022. "Can corporate social responsibility disclosure alleviate asset price volatility? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

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