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What's in a name? An experimental examination of investment behavior

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  • Lucy F. Ackert
  • Bryan K. Church
  • James Tompkins
  • Ping Zhang

Abstract

A fundamental unresolved issue is whether information asymmetries underlie investors' predisposition to invest close to home (i.e., domestically or locally). The authors conduct experiments in the United States and Canada to investigate agents' portfolio allocation decisions, controlling for the availability of information. Providing participants with information about a firm's home base, without disclosing its specific identity, is not sufficient to change investment behavior. Rather, participants need to know a firm's name and home base. Additional evidence indicates that participants are more familiar with securities in which they chose to invest than other securities. Familiarity is a key determinant of investment behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucy F. Ackert & Bryan K. Church & James Tompkins & Ping Zhang, 2003. "What's in a name? An experimental examination of investment behavior," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2003-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedawp:2003-12
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    2. Koen Schoors & Maria Semenova & Andrey Zubanov, 2016. "Depositor Discipline in Russian Regions: Flight to Familiarity or Trust in Local Authorities?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 58/FE/2016, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    3. H. Henry Cao & Bing Han & David Hirshleifer & Harold H. Zhang, 2011. "Fear of the Unknown: Familiarity and Economic Decisions," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 15(1), pages 173-206.
    4. Dennis Dlugosch & Kristian Horn & Mei Wang, 2014. "Behavioral determinants of home bias - theory and experiment," Working Papers 2014-11, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    5. Arpita Agnihotri & Saurabh Bhattacharya, 2017. "Corporate Name Change and the Market Valuation of Firms: Evidence from an Emerging Market," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 73-90, January.
    6. John Ammer & Sara B. Holland & David C. Smith & Francis E. Warnock, 2006. "Look at Me Now: What Attracts U.S. Shareholders?," NBER Working Papers 12500, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Roux, Catherine & Santos-Pinto, Luís & Thöni, Christian, 2016. "Home bias in multimarket Cournot games," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 361-371.
    8. Schoors, Koen & Semenova, Maria & Zubanov, Andrey, 2019. "Depositor discipline during crisis: Flight to familiarity or trust in local authorities?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 25-39.
    9. Bruno Solnik & Luo Zuo, 2012. "A Global Equilibrium Asset Pricing Model with Home Preference," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 273-292, February.
    10. Roque, Vanda & Cortez, Maria Céu, 2014. "The determinants of international equity investment: Do they differ between institutional and noninstitutional investors?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 469-482.
    11. Herrmann, Leonie & Stolper, Oscar A., 2017. "Investor familiarity and corporate debt financing conditions," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 263-268.
    12. Sirr, Gordon & Power, Bernadette & Ryan, Geraldine & Eakins, John & O’Connor, Ellen & le Maitre, Julia, 2023. "An analysis of the factors affecting Irish citizens’ willingness to invest in wind energy projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    13. Huang, Yuqin & Qiu, Huiyan & Wu, Zhiguo, 2016. "Local bias in investor attention: Evidence from China's Internet stock message boards," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(PA), pages 338-354.
    14. Gao, Xin & An, Zhe & Li, Donghui & Xu, Weidong, 2024. "Does media affect the rival response to acquisition targets?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    15. Mustafa Disli & Koen Schoors, 2019. "The Dynamic Effects Of Bank Rebranding And Familiarity Bias," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 19/955, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    16. Maximilian Lude & Reinhard Prügl, 2019. "Risky Decisions and the Family Firm Bias: An Experimental Study Based on Prospect Theory," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(2), pages 386-408, March.
    17. Baltzer, Markus & Stolper, Oscar & Walter, Andreas, 2011. "Home-field advantage or a matter of ambiguity aversion? Local bias among German individual investors," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2011,23, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    18. George Athanassakos & Lucy F. Ackert & Budina Naydenova & Ivo Tafkov, 2010. "Determinants of Investor Demand for Cross‐Listed Firms," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 245-267, August.
    19. John Ammer & Sara B. Holland & David C. Smith & Francis E. Warnock, 2004. "Look at me now: the role of cross-listing in attracting U.S. investors," International Finance Discussion Papers 815, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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