IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v41y2016icp610-625.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The gravity of culture for finance

Author

Listed:
  • Karolyi, G. Andrew

Abstract

Scholarship in finance has paid relatively little attention to the role of culture in financial decision-making compared to other business disciplines and economics. This paper will review what research has been done to date including a critical assessment of the key databases used to measure differences in cultural values. Notwithstanding the concerns with the measures of cultural values, I conduct an empirical analysis of the role of cultural distance for explaining the foreign bias in international portfolio holdings using traditional gravity models in international economics. I affirm the statistical explanatory power of culture for these investment biases and outline several new potential directions for research.

Suggested Citation

  • Karolyi, G. Andrew, 2016. "The gravity of culture for finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 610-625.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:41:y:2016:i:c:p:610-625
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2016.07.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119916300761
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2016.07.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liang Shao & Chuck CY Kwok & Omrane Guedhami, 2010. "National culture and dividend policy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(8), pages 1391-1414, October.
    2. Bruce Kogut & Harbir Singh, 1988. "The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 411-432, September.
    3. Cooper, Ian & Sercu, Piet & Vanpée, Rosanne, 2013. "The Equity Home Bias Puzzle: A Survey," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 7(4), pages 289-416, December.
    4. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2008. "Trusting the Stock Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2557-2600, December.
    5. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    6. Andy C.W. Chui & Sheridan Titman & K.C. John Wei, 2010. "Individualism and Momentum around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 361-392, February.
    7. Xiaolan Zheng & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Chuck C Y Kwok, 2013. "Collectivism and corruption in bank lending," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(4), pages 363-390, May.
    8. Oded Shenkar, 2001. "Cultural Distance Revisited: Towards a More Rigorous Conceptualization and Measurement of Cultural Differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 519-535, September.
    9. Greif,Avner, 2006. "Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521480444, October.
    10. Karolyi, G. Andrew, 2015. "Cracking the Emerging Markets Enigma," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199336623.
    11. Santos Silva, J.M.C. & Tenreyro, Silvana, 2011. "Further simulation evidence on the performance of the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 220-222, August.
    12. Giannetti, Mariassunta & Koskinen, Yrjö, 2010. "Investor Protection, Equity Returns, and Financial Globalization," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(1), pages 135-168, February.
    13. George A. Akerlof, 1997. "Social Distance and Social Decisions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(5), pages 1005-1028, September.
    14. Karolyi, G. Andrew & Ng, David T. & Prasad, Eswar S., 2020. "The Coming Wave: Where Do Emerging Market Investors Put Their Money?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 1369-1414, June.
    15. Mayer, Thierry & Zignago, Soledad, 2006. "Notes on CEPII’s distances measures," MPRA Paper 26469, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    17. J. M. C. Santos Silva & Silvana Tenreyro, 2006. "The Log of Gravity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 641-658, November.
    18. Stulz, Rene M. & Williamson, Rohan, 2003. "Culture, openness, and finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 313-349, December.
    19. Mark Grinblatt & Matti Keloharju, 2001. "How Distance, Language, and Culture Influence Stockholdings and Trades," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 1053-1073, June.
    20. Aggarwal, Raj & Kearney, Colm & Lucey, Brian, 2012. "Gravity and culture in foreign portfolio investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 525-538.
    21. Hilary, Gilles & Hui, Kai Wai, 2009. "Does religion matter in corporate decision making in America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 455-473, September.
    22. Bradley L Kirkman & Kevin B Lowe & Cristina B Gibson, 2006. "A quarter century of Culture's Consequences: a review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede's cultural values framework," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(3), pages 285-320, May.
    23. Licht, Amir N. & Goldschmidt, Chanan & Schwartz, Shalom H., 2007. "Culture rules: The foundations of the rule of law and other norms of governance," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 659-688, December.
    24. Siegel, Jordan I. & Licht, Amir N. & Schwartz, Shalom H., 2011. "Egalitarianism and international investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(3), pages 621-642.
    25. Kalok Chan & Vicentiu Covrig & Lilian Ng, 2005. "What Determines the Domestic Bias and Foreign Bias? Evidence from Mutual Fund Equity Allocations Worldwide," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1495-1534, June.
    26. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson, 2005. "Unbundling Institutions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 949-995, October.
    27. G. Andrew Karolyi & Alvaro G. Taboada, 2015. "Regulatory Arbitrage and Cross‐Border Bank Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(6), pages 2395-2450, December.
    28. Douglas Dow & Amal Karunaratna, 2006. "Developing a multidimensional instrument to measure psychic distance stimuli," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(5), pages 578-602, September.
    29. Eun, Cheol S. & Wang, Lingling & Xiao, Steven C., 2015. "Culture and R2," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 283-303.
    30. Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd & Frijns, Bart, 2010. "A cultural explanation of the foreign bias in international asset allocation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 2121-2131, September.
    31. Karolyi, G. Andrew & Stulz, Rene M., 2003. "Are financial assets priced locally or globally?," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 16, pages 975-1020, Elsevier.
    32. Ilya R P Cuypers & Gokhan Ertug & Jean-François Hennart, 2015. "The effects of linguistic distance and lingua franca proficiency on the stake taken by acquirers in cross-border acquisitions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(4), pages 429-442, May.
    33. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    34. Narjess Boubakri & Omrane Guedhami & Chuck C Y Kwok & Walid Saffar, 2016. "National culture and privatization: The relationship between collectivism and residual state ownership," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(2), pages 170-190, February.
    35. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 2.
    36. Andy C W Chui & Alison E Lloyd & Chuck C Y Kwok, 2002. "The Determination of Capital Structure: Is National Culture a Missing Piece to the Puzzle?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(1), pages 99-127, March.
    37. Anderson, Christopher W. & Fedenia, Mark & Hirschey, Mark & Skiba, Hilla, 2011. "Cultural influences on home bias and international diversification by institutional investors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 916-934, April.
    38. Liang Shao & Chuck C Y Kwok & Ran Zhang, 2013. "National culture and corporate investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(7), pages 745-763, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Olga Dodd & Bart Frijns & Aaron Gilbert, 2015. "On the Role of Cultural Distance in the Decision to Cross†List," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 21(4), pages 706-741, September.
    2. Kostas Pappas & Alice Liang Xu, 2023. "Do foreign lenders' national cultures affect loan pricing?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 2006-2036, April.
    3. Pascal Gantenbein & Axel Kind & Christophe Volonté, 2019. "Individualism and Venture Capital: A Cross-Country Study," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 741-777, October.
    4. El Ghoul, Sadok & Zheng, Xiaolan, 2016. "Trade credit provision and national culture," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 475-501.
    5. Li, Lu & Duan, Yang & He, Yuqian & Chan, Kam C., 2018. "Linguistic distance and mergers and acquisitions: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 81-102.
    6. Brandon N. Cline & Claudia R. Williamson, 2020. "Trust, regulation, and contracting institutions," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(4), pages 859-895, September.
    7. Rothonis, Stephanie & Tran, Duy & Wu, Eliza, 2016. "Does national culture affect the intensity of volatility linkages in international equity markets?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 85-95.
    8. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2017. "Individualism, democracy, and contract enforcement," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 284-306.
    9. Huong Dang, 2014. "How dimensions of national culture and institutional characteristics influence sovereign rating migration dynamics," ZenTra Working Papers in Transnational Studies 42 / 2014, ZenTra - Center for Transnational Studies.
    10. Zhe An & Zhe Cao & Zhian Chen & Donghui Li, 2020. "Does individualistic culture impact operational risk?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(3), pages 808-838, June.
    11. Goodell, John W. & Kumar, Satish & Lahmar, Oumaima & Pandey, Nitesh, 2023. "A bibliometric analysis of cultural finance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    12. Beracha, Eli & Fedenia, Mark & Skiba, Hilla, 2014. "Culture's impact on institutional investors' trading frequency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 34-47.
    13. Dai, Na & Nahata, Rajarishi & Brauner, Aaron, 2022. "Does individualism matter for hedge funds? A cross-country examination," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    14. Charles J. Reuter, 2011. "A survey of culture and finance," Post-Print hal-03016357, HAL.
    15. Chui, Andy C.W. & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & (Stephen) Zhou, Gaoguang, 2016. "National culture and the cost of debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1-19.
    16. Christophe Volonté, 2015. "Culture and Corporate Governance: The Influence of Language and Religion in Switzerland," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 77-118, February.
    17. Wang, Wenzhao & Duxbury, Darren, 2021. "Institutional investor sentiment and the mean-variance relationship: Global evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 415-441.
    18. Boubakri, Narjess & Saffar, Walid, 2016. "Culture and externally financed firm growth," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 502-520.
    19. Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd & Frijns, Bart, 2010. "A cultural explanation of the foreign bias in international asset allocation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 2121-2131, September.
    20. Aggarwal, Raj & Kearney, Colm & Lucey, Brian, 2012. "Gravity and culture in foreign portfolio investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 525-538.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:41:y:2016:i:c:p:610-625. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.