IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v78y2024ics0927539824000616.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The value of information in China’s connected market

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Keqi
  • Wang, Yuehan
  • Zhu, Xiaoquan

Abstract

The paper studies the role of information in cross-border trading by using the Stock Connect as a novel laboratory. We present evidence that northbound investors have an additional informational advantage over domestic institutional investors regarding firm fundamentals. A long-short strategy earns an average weekly return of 0.34% after adjusting for the Chinese three-factor model. Furthermore, the information advantage of northbound investors is likely to work to a greater effect in asymmetric information environments. Additionally, northbound flows are useful in explaining the subsequent trading activities of domestic investors, which becomes more salient over time and among firms experiencing more attention-induced copycat trading.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Keqi & Wang, Yuehan & Zhu, Xiaoquan, 2024. "The value of information in China’s connected market," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:78:y:2024:i:c:s0927539824000616
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2024.101526
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539824000616
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2024.101526?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. Geert Bekaert & Campbell R. Harvey, 2000. "Foreign Speculators and Emerging Equity Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 565-613, April.
    2. Patrick Augustin & Feng Jiao & Sergei Sarkissian & Michael J Schill, 2020. "Cross-Listings and the Dynamics between Credit and Equity Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(1), pages 112-154.
    3. Kalok Chan & Albert J. Menkveld & Zhishu Yang, 2008. "Information Asymmetry and Asset Prices: Evidence from the China Foreign Share Discount," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(1), pages 159-196, February.
    4. Chang, Eric C. & Luo, Yan & Ren, Jinjuan, 2014. "Short-selling, margin-trading, and price efficiency: Evidence from the Chinese market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 411-424.
    5. Albuquerque, Rui & H. Bauer, Gregory & Schneider, Martin, 2009. "Global private information in international equity markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 18-46, October.
    6. Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro & Pereira, João Pedro & Pires, Pedro, 2017. "Do locals know better? A comparison of the performance of local and foreign institutional investors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 151-164.
    7. Czech, Robert & Huang, Shiyang & Lou, Dong & Wang, Tianyu, 2021. "Informed trading in government bond markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1253-1274.
    8. Bailey, Warren & Mao, Connie X. & Sirodom, Kulpatra, 2007. "Investment restrictions and the cross-border flow of information: Some empirical evidence," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-25, February.
    9. Huafeng (Jason) Chen & Shaojun (Jenny) Chen & Zhuo Chen & Feng Li, 2019. "Empirical Investigation of an Equity Pairs Trading Strategy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 370-389, January.
    10. Roger D. Huang & Cheng‐Yi Shiu, 2009. "Local Effects of Foreign Ownership in an Emerging Financial Market: Evidence from Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors in Taiwan," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 38(3), pages 567-602, September.
    11. Marcin Kacperczyk & Clemens Sialm & Lu Zheng, 2008. "Unobserved Actions of Mutual Funds," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(6), pages 2379-2416, November.
    12. Bai, Min & Li, Xiao-Ming & Qin, Yafeng, 2017. "Shortability and asset pricing model: Evidence from the Hong Kong stock market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 15-29.
    13. Marcin Kacperczyk & Savitar Sundaresan & Tianyu Wang & Wei Jiang, 2021. "Do Foreign Institutional Investors Improve Price Efficiency? [Does governance travel around the world? Evidence from institutional investors]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 1317-1367.
    14. Hyuk Choe & Bong-Chan Kho & René M. Stulz, 2005. "Do Domestic Investors Have an Edge? The Trading Experience of Foreign Investors in Korea," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 795-829.
    15. Chang Ma & John H. Rogers & Sili Zhou, 2019. "The Effect of the China Connect," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-087, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    16. Jiao, Yawen & Massa, Massimo & Zhang, Hong, 2016. "Short selling meets hedge fund 13F: An anatomy of informed demand," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 544-567.
    17. Chakrabarti, Rajesh & Huang, Wei & Jayaraman, Narayanan & Lee, Jinsoo, 2005. "Price and volume effects of changes in MSCI indices - nature and causes," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1237-1264, May.
    18. Evan Gatev & William N. Goetzmann & K. Geert Rouwenhorst, 2006. "Pairs Trading: Performance of a Relative-Value Arbitrage Rule," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 797-827.
    19. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    20. James J. Choi & Li Jin & Hongjun Yan, 2013. "What Does Stock Ownership Breadth Measure?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(4), pages 1239-1278.
    21. Yong Chen & Zhi Da & Dayong Huang, 2019. "Arbitrage Trading: The Long and the Short of It," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(4), pages 1608-1646.
    22. Froot, Kenneth A. & O'Connell, Paul G. J. & Seasholes, Mark S., 2001. "The portfolio flows of international investors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 151-193, February.
    23. Brennan, Michael J & Cao, H Henry, 1997. "International Portfolio Investment Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(5), pages 1851-1880, December.
    24. Newey, Whitney K & West, Kenneth D, 1987. "Hypothesis Testing with Efficient Method of Moments Estimation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 28(3), pages 777-787, October.
    25. Bae, Kee-Hong & Ozoguz, Arzu & Tan, Hongping & Wirjanto, Tony S., 2012. "Do foreigners facilitate information transmission in emerging markets?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 209-227.
    26. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_001 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Brennan, Michael J. & Henry Cao, H. & Strong, Norman & Xu, Xinzhong, 2005. "The dynamics of international equity market expectations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 257-288, August.
    28. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    29. Jon Wongswan, 2006. "Transmission of Information across International Equity Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(4), pages 1157-1189.
    30. An, Li & Lou, Dong & Shi, Donghui, 2022. "Wealth redistribution in bubbles and crashes," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113766, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    31. Franklin Allen & Jun (Qj) Qian & Chenyu Shan & Julie Lei Zhu, 2024. "Dissecting the Long‐Term Performance of the Chinese Stock Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(2), pages 993-1054, April.
    32. Richards, Anthony, 2005. "Big Fish in Small Ponds: The Trading Behavior and Price Impact of Foreign Investors in Asian Emerging Equity Markets," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(1), pages 1-27, March.
    33. Xing Huang, 2015. "Thinking Outside the Borders: Investors' Underreaction to Foreign Operations Information," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(11), pages 3109-3152.
    34. Ekkehart Boehmer & Charles M. Jones & Xiaoyan Zhang, 2008. "Which Shorts Are Informed?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 491-527, April.
    35. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    36. Banerjee, Snehal & Green, Brett, 2015. "Signal or noise? Uncertainty and learning about whether other traders are informed," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 398-423.
    37. Kyle, Albert S, 1985. "Continuous Auctions and Insider Trading," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(6), pages 1315-1335, November.
    38. Bian, Jiangze & Chan, Kalok & Han, Bing & Shi, Donghui, 2023. "Cross-border equity flows and information transmission: Evidence from Chinese stock markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    39. Liu, Clark & Wang, Shujing & Wei, K.C. John, 2021. "Demand shock, speculative beta, and asset prices: Evidence from the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    40. Lauren Cohen & Karl B. Diether & Christopher J. Malloy, 2007. "Supply and Demand Shifts in the Shorting Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(5), pages 2061-2096, October.
    41. Chen, Li-Wen & Johnson, Shane A. & Lin, Ji-Chai & Liu, Yu-Jane, 2009. "Information, sophistication, and foreign versus domestic investors' performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1636-1651, September.
    42. Lee, Charles M. C. & Radhakrishna, Balkrishna, 2000. "Inferring investor behavior: Evidence from TORQ data," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 83-111, May.
    43. Chan, Marc K. & Kwok, Simon, 2017. "Risk-sharing, market imperfections, asset prices: Evidence from China’s stock market liberalization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 166-187.
    44. Maffett, Mark, 2012. "Financial reporting opacity and informed trading by international institutional investors," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 201-220.
    45. Melvyn Teo, 2009. "The Geography of Hedge Funds," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(9), pages 3531-3561, September.
    46. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2008. "All That Glitters: The Effect of Attention and News on the Buying Behavior of Individual and Institutional Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 785-818, April.
    47. Kenneth A. Froot & Tarun Ramadorai, 2008. "Institutional Portfolio Flows and International Investments," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 937-971, April.
    48. Xin Liu & Shang-Jin Wei & Yifan Zhou, 2020. "A Liberalization Spillover: From Equities to Loans," NBER Working Papers 27305, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    49. Wang, Shu-Feng & Lee, Kuan-Hui & Woo, Min-Cheol, 2017. "Do individual short-sellers make money? Evidence from Korea," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 159-172.
    50. Chan, Louis K C & Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Lakonishok, Josef, 1996. "Momentum Strategies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(5), pages 1681-1713, December.
    51. Harald Hau, 2001. "Location Matters: An Examination of Trading Profits," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(5), pages 1959-1983, October.
    52. Lee, Charles M C & Ready, Mark J, 1991. "Inferring Trade Direction from Intraday Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(2), pages 733-746, June.
    53. Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Titman, Sheridan, 1993. "Returns to Buying Winners and Selling Losers: Implications for Stock Market Efficiency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(1), pages 65-91, March.
    54. Abhijit V. Banerjee, 1992. "A Simple Model of Herd Behavior," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 797-817.
    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. Zhang, Jinhua & Wang, Guipu & Yan, Cheng, 2020. "Can foreign equity funds outperform their benchmarks? New evidence from fund-holding data for China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 11-20.
    2. Fung, Scott & Obaid, Khaled & Tsai, Shih-Chuan, 2024. "Information acquisition and processing skills of institutions and retail investors around information shocks," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Cunfei Liao & Guohao Tang & Xiaoying Xu, 2024. "Smart money or chasing stars: Evidence from northbound trading in China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 1781-1803, April.
    4. Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro & Pereira, João Pedro & Pires, Pedro, 2017. "Do locals know better? A comparison of the performance of local and foreign institutional investors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 151-164.
    5. Wang, Shu-Feng & Lee, Kuan-Hui, 2015. "Do foreign short-sellers predict stock returns? Evidence from daily short-selling in Korean stock market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 56-75.
    6. Numan Ülkü & Enzo Weber, 2014. "Identifying the Interaction between Foreign Investor Flows and Emerging Stock Market Returns," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(4), pages 1541-1581.
    7. Sanggyu Kang & Chune Young Chung & Amirhossein Fard, 2024. "Does geographic or market proximity matter? Evidence from institutional investor monitoring on earnings attributes in US cross‐listed stocks," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(2), pages 443-469, April.
    8. Bian, Jiangze & Chan, Kalok & Han, Bing & Shi, Donghui, 2023. "Cross-border equity flows and information transmission: Evidence from Chinese stock markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    9. Liew, Ping-Xin & Lim, Kian-Ping & Goh, Kim-Leng, 2018. "Foreign equity flows: Boon or bane to the liquidity of Malaysian stock market?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 161-181.
    10. Pedraza, Alvaro & Pulga, Fredy & Vasquez, Jose, 2020. "Costly index investing in foreign markets," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    11. Agudelo, Diego A. & Byder, James & Yepes-Henao, Paula, 2019. "Performance and informed trading. Comparing foreigners, institutions and individuals in an emerging stock market," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 187-203.
    12. Chiao, Chaoshin & Chen, Shin-Hui & Hu, Jia-Ming, 2010. "Informational differences among institutional investors in an increasingly institutionalized market," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 118-129, March.
    13. Boubekeur Baba & Güven Sevil, 2021. "Bayesian analysis of time-varying interactions between stock returns and foreign equity flows," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, December.
    14. Bai, John Jianqiu & Tang, Yuehua & Wan, Chi & Yüksel, H. Zafer, 2022. "Fund manager skill in an era of globalization: Offshore concentration and fund performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 18-40.
    15. Yafeng Qin & Min Bai, 2014. "Foreign Ownership Restriction and Momentum – Evidence from Emerging Markets," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 14(2), pages 237-261, June.
    16. Webb, Robert I. & Ryu, Doojin & Ryu, Doowon & Han, Joongho, 2016. "The price impact of futures trades and their intraday seasonality," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 80-98.
    17. Huang, Hong-Gia & Tsai, Wei-Che & Weng, Pei-Shih & Wu, Ming-Hung, 2021. "Volatility of order imbalance of institutional traders and expected asset returns: Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    18. Bai, Min & Qin, Yafeng & Zhang, Huiping, 2021. "Stock price crashes in emerging markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 466-482.
    19. Turan G. Bali & Robert F. Engle & Yi Tang, 2017. "Dynamic Conditional Beta Is Alive and Well in the Cross Section of Daily Stock Returns," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3760-3779, November.
    20. Andrade, Sandro C. & Kohlscheen, Emanuel, 2010. "Pessimistic Foreign Investors and Turmoil in Emerging Markets : The Case of Brazil in 2002," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 926, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Copycats; Cross-border flows; Informed trading; Stock Connect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • 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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:empfin:v:78:y:2024:i:c:s0927539824000616. 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/jempfin .

    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.