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Are retail investors the culprits? Evidence from Australian individual stock price bubbles

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  • Julia Henker
  • Thomas Henker

Abstract

We address the question of whether the trading of retail investors causes stock price anomalies. Our intent is to study settings in which retail investors are most likely to have influence on market prices. Previous research suggests that retail investors have more influence in small capitalization stocks, and argues that retail investors are most likely to be irrational. Most theories of stock price anomalies hypothesize the presence of irrational traders. Consequently, we focus on stock price anomalies in primarily small capitalization stocks. Our data are from the Australian Stock Exchange Clearinghouse. The Australian stock market is characterized by a high level of direct stock holdings by individual investors, further enhancing the likelihood of retail investors' influence. We investigate the Granger causality between investor category trading and stock prices, and display the relative trading volume of the investor categories. We conclude that retail investors are not responsible for stock mispricing. Since retail investors do not affect prices in this carefully selected environment, we infer that their trading is unlikely to influence stock market prices. Our conclusion has important implications for theories, particularly behavioral finance theories, that are dependent on the influence of retail investor trading in stock markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Henker & Thomas Henker, 2010. "Are retail investors the culprits? Evidence from Australian individual stock price bubbles," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 281-304.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurjfi:v:16:y:2010:i:4:p:281-304
    DOI: 10.1080/13518470902872335
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Barberis, Nicholas & Thaler, Richard, 2003. "A survey of behavioral finance," 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 18, pages 1053-1128, Elsevier.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hua Fan, John & Michalski, Lachlan, 2020. "Sustainable factor investing: Where doing well meets doing good," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 230-256.
    2. Ülkü, Numan & Weber, Enzo, 2013. "Identifying the interaction between stock market returns and trading flows of investor types: Looking into the day using daily data," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2733-2749.
    3. Fotini Economou & Konstantinos Gavriilidis & Bartosz Gebka & Vasileios Kallinterakis, 2022. "Feedback trading: a review of theory and empirical evidence," Review of Behavioral Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(4), pages 429-476, February.
    4. Ahmed, Walid M.A., 2017. "The impact of foreign equity flows on market volatility during politically tranquil and turbulent times: The Egyptian experience," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 61-77.
    5. Keith Anderson & Tomasz Zastawniak, 2017. "Glamour, value and anchoring on the changing /," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 375-406, April.

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