IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v55y2018icp173-184.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pair-trading profitability and short-selling restriction: Evidence from the Taiwan stock market

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Jai-Jen
  • Lee, Jin-Ping
  • Zhao, Yang

Abstract

This paper examines the profitability of a pair-trading strategy in the Taiwan stock market while considering alternative frequency-distance filters, thresholds for opening a pair trade relationship, reinvestment mechanisms, different lengths of trading period, industry boundary, and the short-selling restriction. In contrast with the recent literature showing that pair-trading strategy returns are insignificant and negative in the Taiwan stock market, we find that the profitabilities of pair trades developed by positions in the Taiwan 50 Index during 1990/1–2016/3 present significant annualized mean returns of 1.84%–3.04%. Moreover, thresholds with different stringent degrees, industry boundary, and alternative reinvestment mechanisms are unable to help pick out more profitable pair-trading portfolios. The distance filter and shorter trading-day setting are more reliable for pair trading. Finally, the deregulation on short selling results in more pair-trading activities, which obviously diminish the profitability of a pair-trading strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Jai-Jen & Lee, Jin-Ping & Zhao, Yang, 2018. "Pair-trading profitability and short-selling restriction: Evidence from the Taiwan stock market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 173-184.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:55:y:2018:i:c:p:173-184
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2017.07.021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056017305300
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2017.07.021?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. Karl B. Diether & Kuan-Hui Lee & Ingrid M. Werner, 2009. "Short-Sale Strategies and Return Predictability," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 575-607, February.
    2. Yang, Jen-Wei & Tsai, Shu-Yu & Shyu, So-De & Chang, Chia-Chien, 2016. "Pairs trading: The performance of a stochastic spread model with regime switching-evidence from the S&P 500," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 139-150.
    3. Alessandro Beber & Marco Pagano, 2013. "Short-Selling Bans Around the World: Evidence from the 2007–09 Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(1), pages 343-381, February.
    4. Jacobs, Heiko & Weber, Martin, 2015. "On the determinants of pairs trading profitability," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 75-97.
    5. Andrea Frazzini, 2006. "The Disposition Effect and Underreaction to News," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 2017-2046, August.
    6. Christopher Krauss, 2017. "Statistical Arbitrage Pairs Trading Strategies: Review And Outlook," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 513-545, April.
    7. 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.
    8. Asparouhova, Elena & Bessembinder, Hendrik & Kalcheva, Ivalina, 2010. "Liquidity biases in asset pricing tests," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 215-237, May.
    9. Locke, Peter R. & Mann, Steven C., 2005. "Professional trader discipline and trade disposition," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 401-444, May.
    10. Le, Van & Zurbruegg, Ralf, 2016. "The impact of short sale restrictions on informed trading in the stock and options markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 262-273.
    11. Shefrin, Hersh & Statman, Meir, 1985. "The Disposition to Sell Winners Too Early and Ride Losers Too Long: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(3), pages 777-790, July.
    12. Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Titman, Sheridan, 1995. "Overreaction, Delayed Reaction, and Contrarian Profits," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 8(4), pages 973-993.
    13. Yufeng Han & David Lesmond, 2011. "Liquidity Biases and the Pricing of Cross-sectional Idiosyncratic Volatility," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(5), pages 1590-1629.
    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. Adam Zaremba & Jacob Koby Shemer, 2018. "Price-Based Investment Strategies," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-91530-2, December.
    2. Flori, Andrea & Regoli, Daniele, 2021. "Revealing Pairs-trading opportunities with long short-term memory networks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 295(2), pages 772-791.
    3. Massa, Massimo & von Beschwitz, Bastian, 2015. "Biased Shorts: Stock Market Implications of Short Sellers? Disposition Effect," CEPR Discussion Papers 10535, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Massimo Massa & Bastian von Beschwitz, 2015. "Biased Shorts: Short sellers’ Disposition Effect and Limits to Arbitrage," International Finance Discussion Papers 1147, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Fernando Chague & Rodrigo De Losso, Bruno Giovannetti, 2017. "Uncovering Skilled Short-sellers," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2017_01, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    6. von Beschwitz, Bastian & Massa, Massimo, 2020. "Biased short: Short sellers' disposition effect and limits to arbitrage," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    7. An, Li & Argyle, Bronson, 2021. "Overselling winners and losers: How mutual fund managers' trading behavior affects asset prices," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    8. Singal, Vijay & Xu, Zhaojin, 2011. "Selling winners, holding losers: Effect on fund flows and survival of disposition-prone mutual funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2704-2718, October.
    9. Jakusch, Sven Thorsten, 2017. "On the applicability of maximum likelihood methods: From experimental to financial data," SAFE Working Paper Series 148, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, revised 2017.
    10. Vassilis A. Efthymiou & George N. Leledakis, 2014. "The price impact of the disposition effect on the ex-dividend day of NYSE and AMEX common stocks," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 711-724, April.
    11. Choi, Darwin, 2019. "Disposition sales and stock market liquidity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 19-36.
    12. Jakusch, Sven Thorsten & Meyer, Steffen & Hackethal, Andreas, 2019. "Taming models of prospect theory in the wild? Estimation of Vlcek and Hens (2011)," SAFE Working Paper Series 146, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, revised 2019.
    13. Andrey Kudryavtsev & Gil Cohen & Shlomit Hon-Snir, 2013. "“Rational” or “Intuitive”: Are Behavioral Biases Correlated Across Stock Market Investors?," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 7(2), June.
    14. Zhe Huang & Franck Martin, 2017. "Optimal pairs trading strategies in a cointegration framework," Working Papers halshs-01566803, HAL.
    15. Chague, Fernando & De-Losso, Rodrigo & Giovannetti, Bruno, 2019. "The short-selling skill of institutions and individuals," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 77-91.
    16. Bouteska, Ahmed & Kabir Hassan, M. & Gider, Zeynullah & Bataineh, Hassan, 2024. "The role of investor sentiment and market belief in forecasting V-shaped disposition effect: Evidence from a Bayesian learning process with DSSW model," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    17. Richards, Daniel W. & Willows, Gizelle D., 2019. "Monday mornings: Individual investor trading on days of the week and times within a day," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 105-115.
    18. Li, Yan & Yang, Liyan, 2013. "Prospect theory, the disposition effect, and asset prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 715-739.
    19. Daniela Vesselinova Balkanska, 2018. "Disposition effect and analyst forecast dispersion," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 837-859, April.
    20. Zhang, Xiaotao & Wang, Ziqiao & Hao, Jing & Liu, Jiubiao, 2022. "Stock market entry timing and retail investors' disposition effect," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pair trading; FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 index; Distance filter; Frequency filter; Short-selling restriction;
    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:reveco:v:55:y:2018:i:c:p:173-184. 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/inca/620165 .

    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.