The Determinants of International Portfolio Holdings and Geographical Bias

The Determinants of International Portfolio Holdings and Geographical Bias
Author: Shujing Li
Publisher:
Total Pages: 35
Release: 2005
Genre:
ISBN:

This paper employs a unique cross-border equity position dataset from the IMF to investigate the determinants of international portfolio holdings in a wide range of countries. It is observed that, besides the home bias phenomenon, there is considerable geographical bias in the cross-border portfolio holdings - investors tend to hold more securities in countries closer to them in distance. We estimate that if the distance between two counties doubles the cross-border equity holdings are reduced by 68%. This paper first derives structural equations from a consumption-based asset pricing model and then applies them to analyze the effect of distance, information and transaction costs on international portfolio holdings. The results indicate that, by explicitly introducing information and transaction costs into the model, the heterogeneity of cross-border holdings and a great part of the home bias puzzle can be explained.

The Determinants of International Portfolio Holdings and Home Bias

The Determinants of International Portfolio Holdings and Home Bias
Author: Shujing Li
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2004-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Despite the liberalization of foreign portfolio investment around the globe since the early 1980s, the home-bias phenomenon is still found to exist. Using a relatively new IMF survey dataset of cross-border equity holdings, this paper tests new structural equations from a consumption-based asset-pricing model on international portfolio holdings. Using of stock data allows us to provide new and clear-cut evidence on the determinants of international portfolio holdings. The empirical results show that an augmented gravity model performs remarkably well. The results indicate that market size, transaction cost, and information asymmetry are major determinants of cross-border portfolio choice. These findings shed light on alternative theories of international portfolio holdings, especially on the transaction and information cost-based explanations of home bias.

The Determinants of Cross-border Equity Flows

The Determinants of Cross-border Equity Flows
Author: Richard Portes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 60
Release: 2000
Genre: Capital movements
ISBN:

We apply a new approach to a new panel data set on bilateral gross cross-border equity flows between 14 countries, 1989-96. The model integrates elements of the finance literature on portfolio composition and the international macroeconomics and asset trade literature. Gross asset flows depend on market size in both source and destination country as well as trading costs, in which both information and the transaction technology play a role. Distance proxies some information costs, and other variables explicitly represent information transmission, an information asymmetry between domestic and foreign investors, and the efficiency of transactions. The remarkably good results have strong implications for theories of asset trade. We find that the geography of information is the main determinant of the pattern of international transactions, while there is little support in our data for diversification and return-chasing motives for transactions."--Authors.

The Equity Home Bias Puzzle

The Equity Home Bias Puzzle
Author: Ian Cooper
Publisher:
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2013
Genre: International finance
ISBN: 9781601987631

Home bias - the empirical phenomenon that investors assign anomalously high weights to their own domestic assets - has puzzled academics for decades: financial theory predicts that an internationally well diversified portfolio of stocks and short-term bonds can reduce risk significantly without affecting expected return. Although the globalization of international equity markets has increased international investments, equity portfolios remain severely home biased today, and no single explanation seems to solve the puzzle completely. In this paper, we first provide a thorough description of the equity home bias phenomenon by defining, discussing, and applying the competing measures and presenting some estimates of the costs of under-diversification. Second, we evaluate the explanations for the equity home bias proposed in the literature such as information asymmetries, behavioral aspects, barriers to foreign investment, and governance issues, and conclude that each explanation on its own falls short, suggesting that the equity home bias probably reflects a combination of factors. Lastly, we review the implications of international under-diversification for portfolio formation and the cost of capital of companies.

Information Costs and Home Bias

Information Costs and Home Bias
Author: Alan G. Ahearne
Publisher:
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2000
Genre: Investments, Foreign
ISBN:

We aim to provide insight into the observed equity home bias phenomenon by analyzing the determinants of U.S. holdings of equities across a wide range of countries. In particular, we explore the role of information costs in determining the country distribution of U.S. investors' equity holdings using a comprehensive new data set on U.S. ownership of foreign stocks. We find that U.S. holdings of a country's equities are positively related to the share of that country's stock market that is listed on U.S. exchanges, even after controlling for capital controls, trade links, transaction costs, and historical risk-adjusted returns. We attribute this finding to the fact that foreign firms that list on U.S. exchange are obliged to provide standardized, credible financial information, thereby reducing information costs incurred by U.S. investors. This obligation stems from U.S. investor protection regulations, which include stringent disclosure requirements, reconciliation of financial statements to U.S. standards, and an investor-friendly regulatory environment. Our results support the hypothesis that information costs are an important source of home bias: Foreign countries whose firms do not alleviate information costs by listing on a U.S. exchange are more severely underweighted in U.S. equity portfolios.

Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey Guide (second edition)

Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey Guide (second edition)
Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2002-05-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1589060938

This paper reviews the coordinated portfolio investment survey (CPIS) guide. The objectives of CPIS are to collect comprehensive information, with geographical detail on the country of residence of the issuer, on the stock of cross-border equities, long-term bonds and notes, and short-term debt instruments for use in the compilation or improvement of international investment position statistics on portfolio investment capital. This paper discusses the scope and modalities of the CPIS. It also presents key findings of the 1997 CPIS and 2001 CPIS.