IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedgif/1088.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

\"Fool Me Once . . . \" Did U.S. investors play it safer in the European debt crisis?

Author

Abstract

This paper examines U.S. investors? portfolio investment patterns since the global financial crisis, particularly since the European debt crisis that began in late 2009. The global financial crisis during 2007-2009 was accompanied by an increase in U.S. investors? home bias. U.S. investors experienced significant valuation losses and pulled back notably from their foreign investment, especially from foreign debt. In contrast, while they have also incurred sizable losses on cross-border investment during the European debt crisis, U.S. investors so far have not shown any increase in home bias, and they have not even pulled back from their long-term investments in Europe. Holdings data show that U.S. investors have continued to invest in European securities, particularly in government debt, but have made little new investment in the financial sector. This continued interest in European securities could owe to the fact that most of U.S. holdings of European debt have been concentrated in dollar-denominated debt issued by core euro area countries and the United Kingdom, which are deemed relatively safe. Changes in the composition of holdings over the past couple years suggest that U.S. investors have behaved in a way that reflects their diversity and differing objectives: while investors reached for higher yields in government debt, there also appears to be some shift toward safer investment in the financial sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Carol C. Bertaut & Fang Cai & Nyssa Kim, 2013. "\"Fool Me Once . . . \" Did U.S. investors play it safer in the European debt crisis?," International Finance Discussion Papers 1088, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:1088
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/ifdp/2013/1088/default.htm
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/ifdp/2013/1088/ifdp1088.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Bernanke, B.S., 2011. "International capital flows and the returns to safe assets in the United States 2003-2007," Financial Stability Review, Banque de France, issue 15, pages 13-26, February.
    3. Gourinchas, Pierre-Olivier & Rey, Hélène & Truempler, Kai, 2012. "The financial crisis and the geography of wealth transfers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 266-283.
    4. Fratzscher, Marcel, 2012. "Capital flows, push versus pull factors and the global financial crisis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 341-356.
    5. Gary Gorton, 2009. "Information, Liquidity, and the (Ongoing) Panic of 2007," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 567-572, May.
    6. Bertaut, Carol & DeMarco, Laurie Pounder & Kamin, Steven & Tryon, Ralph, 2012. "ABS inflows to the United States and the global financial crisis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 219-234.
    7. 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.
    8. Kristopher Gerardi & Andreas Lehnert & Shane M. Sherlund & Paul Willen, 2008. "Making Sense of the Subprime Crisis," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 39(2 (Fall)), pages 69-159.
    9. Gary Gorton, 2008. "The panic of 2007," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 131-262.
    10. Gian-Maria Milesi-Ferretti & Cédric Tille, 2011. "The great retrenchment: international capital flows during the global financial crisis [‘The great trade collapse: what caused it and what does it mean?’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(66), pages 289-346.
    11. Ahearne, Alan G. & Griever, William L. & Warnock, Francis E., 2004. "Information costs and home bias: an analysis of US holdings of foreign equities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 313-336, March.
    12. French, Kenneth R & Poterba, James M, 1991. "Investor Diversification and International Equity Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 222-226, May.
    13. 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.
    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. Matthew M. Wynter, 2019. "Why did the equity home bias fall during the financial panic of 2008?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 1343-1372, May.
    2. Nicolas Coeurdacier & Hélène Rey, 2013. "Home Bias in Open Economy Financial Macroeconomics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 63-115, March.
    3. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. 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.
    7. Jung, Chan Shik & Lee, Dong Wook & Park, Kyung Suh, 2009. "Can investor heterogeneity be used to explain the cross-section of average stock returns in emerging markets?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 648-670, June.
    8. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2015. "Education and the local equity bias around the world," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 65-88.
    9. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g81p7j6b6 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2014. "The role of education in equity portfolios during the recent financial crisis," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-26, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    11. Gau, Yin-Feng & Hua, Mingshu & Wu, Wen-Lin, 2010. "International asset allocation for incompletely-informed investors," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 422-447, November.
    12. Christian Leuz & Karl V. Lins & Francis E. Warnock, 2010. "Do Foreigners Invest Less in Poorly Governed Firms?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 3245-3285, March.
    13. Anil Mishra, 2011. "Australia’s equity home bias and real exchange rate volatility," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 223-244, August.
    14. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2015. "Education and the local equity bias around the world," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-76, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    15. Sorensen, Bent E. & Wu, Yi-Tsung & Yosha, Oved & Zhu, Yu, 2007. "Home bias and international risk sharing: Twin puzzles separated at birth," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 587-605, June.
    16. Carpio, Ronaldo & Guo, Meixin & Liu, Yuan & Pyun, Ju Hyun, 2021. "Wealth heterogeneity, information acquisition and equity home bias: Evidence from U.S. household surveys of consumer finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    17. Gregory S. Miller, 2009. "Discussion of Financial Globalization, Governance, and the Evolution of Home Bias," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 637-646, May.
    18. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g70969520 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Udichibarna Bose & Ronald MacDonald & Serafeim Tsoukas, 2014. "The role of education in equity portfolios during the recent financial crisis," Working Papers 2014_17, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    20. Silvers, Roger, 2021. "Does regulatory cooperation help integrate equity markets?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1275-1300.
    21. Choi, Nicole & Fedenia, Mark & Skiba, Hilla & Sokolyk, Tatyana, 2017. "Portfolio concentration and performance of institutional investors worldwide," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 189-208.
    22. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g70969520 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Paul Hallwood & Ronald MacDonald, 2014. "Picking The Right Budget Constraint For Scotland," Working Papers 2014_18, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    24. Coeurdacier, Nicolas & Guibaud, Stéphane, 2011. "International portfolio diversification is better than you think," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 289-308, March.
    25. Bhattacharya, Utpal & Groznik, Peter, 2008. "Melting pot or salad bowl: Some evidence from U.S. investments abroad," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 228-258, August.
    26. Hiraki, Takato & Liu, Ming, 2021. "Do global equity mutual funds exhibit home bias?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:fip:fedgif:1088. 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: Ryan Wolfslayer ; Keisha Fournillier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbgvus.html .

    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.