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Short sale constraints, disperse pessimistic beliefs and market efficiency — Evidence from the Chinese stock market

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  • Zhao, Zhongkuang
  • Li, Shuqi
  • Xiong, Heping

Abstract

In the Chinese stock market, the regulatory agency lists qualified stocks on announcement date and permits investors to sell short on the effective date, a practice that allows us to directly study the impact of short sale constraints. Applying an event study to 511 additions, between February 2010 and August 2013, of individual stocks to the list of securities qualified for short sale, we find that short sale constraints cause individual stocks to be overpriced and that such overvaluation is exclusively related to distortions associated with pessimistic beliefs. In addition, we observe lower volatility, skewness and extreme value frequency of stock returns after short sale constraints are lifted. This implies the emergence of a more appropriate distribution of returns and improved market efficiency at the individual stock level as the range of securities qualified for short selling expands.

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  • Zhao, Zhongkuang & Li, Shuqi & Xiong, Heping, 2014. "Short sale constraints, disperse pessimistic beliefs and market efficiency — Evidence from the Chinese stock market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 333-342.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:42:y:2014:i:c:p:333-342
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2014.07.022
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    4. Chi Dong & Hooi Hooi Lean & Zamri Ahmad & Wing-Keung Wong, 2019. "The Impact of Market Condition and Policy Change on the Sustainability of Intra-Industry Information Diffusion in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, February.
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    7. Bohl, Martin T. & Reher, Gerrit & Wilfling, Bernd, 2016. "Short selling constraints and stock returns volatility: Empirical evidence from the German stock market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 159-166.
    8. Pan, Beier, 2023. "The asymmetric dynamics of stock–bond liquidity correlation in China: The role of macro-financial determinants," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    9. Liang Wu & Lei Zhang & Zhiming Fu, 2015. "Deleveraging, short sale constraints and market crash," Papers 1511.03777, arXiv.org.
    10. Sha, Yezhou & Shah, Syed Ghulam Meran & Sarfraz, Muddassar, 2023. "Short selling and SME irregular CEO succession: Witnessing the moderating role of earnings management," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 163-173.
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