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The Granular Nature of Large Institutional Investors

Author

Listed:
  • Franzoni, Francesco
  • Ben-David, Itzhak
  • Moussawi, Rabih
  • Sedunov, John

Abstract

Large institutional investors own an increasing share of equity markets in the U.S. The implications of this development for financial markets are still unclear. The paper presents novel empirical evidence that ownership by large institutions predicts higher volatility and greater noise in stock prices, as well as more fragility at times of crisis. Evidence from a natural experiment suggests a causal interpretation of this effect. When studying the channel, we find that large institutional investors exhibit traits of granularity, i.e. subunits within a firm display correlated behavior, which reduces diversification of idiosyncratic shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Franzoni, Francesco & Ben-David, Itzhak & Moussawi, Rabih & Sedunov, John, 2019. "The Granular Nature of Large Institutional Investors," CEPR Discussion Papers 13427, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13427
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Institutional investors; Concentration; Granularity; Fire sales; Liquidity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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