Three Essays On Long Run Stock Market Behavior PDF Download

My dissertation consists of three sole-authored essays that study global stock returns. The first one “Global Anomalies” estimates the aggregated return predictability of 117 U.S. anomalies across 40 countries. These anomaly variables generate substantial return predictability when they are aggregated within the same category as defined in Hou, Xue, and Zhang (2015) using composite measures. Combining all six categories of anomaly variables into one single composite measure, a global hedge portfolio generates an average equal (value)-weighted monthly return of 2.15% (1.20%) with a t-statistic of 9.22 (4.66). These results highlight the importance of using composite measures to summarize the information contained in individual anomaly variables. My dissertation consists of three sole-authored essays that study global stock returns. The first one “Global Anomalies” estimates the aggregated return predictability of 117 U.S. anomalies across 40 countries. These anomaly variables generate substantial return predictability when they are aggregated within the same category as defined in Hou, Xue, and Zhang (2015) using composite measures. Combining all six categories of anomaly variables into one single composite measure, a global hedge portfolio generates an average equal (value)-weighted monthly return of 2.15% (1.20%) with a t-statistic of 9.22 (4.66). These results highlight the importance of using composite measures to summarize the information contained in individual anomaly variables. In the third chapter “The Impact of Price Limits on Stock Volatility and Price Delay: Evidence from China”, I focus on the Chinese stock market and study how market interventions affect price behaviors. To overcome challenge in identification, I first match firms by characteristics and use difference-in-difference methodology to establish causality. Exploring a Special Treatment policy in China, I show that 5-basis-point tightening in daily price limits (from ±10% to ±5%) significantly reduces annualized volatility by 6.5 basis points (t =5.00) yet increases price delay by 63% from the previous year (t =7.40). Trading activity and liquidity significantly decrease under new limits but return increases by an equal-weighted average of 27% (t = 3.22) in 12 months. Evidence suggests that in the long-run price limits are effective in reducing volatility and improving firm value yet causing delayed price discovery and lower liquidity.