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News or noise: Mobile internet technology and stock market activity

Author

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  • Brown, Nerissa C.
  • Elliott, W. Brooke
  • Wermers, Russ
  • White, Roger M.

Abstract

Mobile internet devices reduce trading frictions and information search costs for investors, but also introduce attention-competing activities,such as social networking. We use exogenous nationwide and city-level outages of the Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) to investigate the effect of mobile internet technology on investors'information-gathering vs. attention-diverting activities. We find that trading volume and trading frequency surge by about 5% on days when mobile internet systems go dark, consistent with a greater role for devices (when not dark) in diverting the limited attention of investors away from information-gathering and trading - even when they are used by presumably more sophisticated investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, Nerissa C. & Elliott, W. Brooke & Wermers, Russ & White, Roger M., 2021. "News or noise: Mobile internet technology and stock market activity," CFR Working Papers 21-10, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cfrwps:2110
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    Cited by:

    1. Lesmeister, Simon & Limbach, Peter & Rau, P. Raghavendra & Sonnenburg, Florian, 2022. "Indexing and the performance-flow relation of actively managed mutual funds," CFR Working Papers 22-02, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    2. Ivanov, Ivan T. & Zimmermann, Tom & Heinrich, Nathan W., 2022. "Limits of disclosure regulation in the municipal bond market," CFR Working Papers 22-05, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mobile technology; investor activity; stock market liquidity; limited attention; distraction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

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