A theory of noise trading in securities markets

Article Abstract:

In a recent article, Black (1) introduces a type of trading that he terms noise trading. He asserts that noise trading, which he defines as trading on noise as if it were information, must be a significant factor in securities markets. However, he does not provide an explanation of why any investors would rationally want to engage in noise trading. The goal of this paper is to provide such an explanation for one type of investor, managers of investment funds. As shown here, the incentive for a manager to engage in noise trading arises because of the positive signal that the level of the manager's trading provides about his or her ability to collect private information concerning current and potential investments. If the manager's compensation is directly related to investors' perceptions of his or her ability, the manager will then trade more frequently than is justified on the basis of his or her private information. In addition to providing this explanation for noise trading, the results of this analysis may also be useful for further empirical exploration of the relation between investment fund portfolio turnover and subsequent performance. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

author: Trueman, Brett
Trading rooms (Finance)

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International capital structure equilibrium

Article Abstract:

This paper develops a theory of capital structure in an international setting with corporate and personal taxes. We generalize the Miller analysis to an international equilibrium characterized by differential international taxation and inflation in otherwise perfect international capital markets. Our analysis highlights the key role that corporate tax arbitrage plays in generating an international capital structure equilibrium, and we set forth a number of mechanisms for tax arbitrage transactions. We close the paper by outlining some implications of our analysis for national differences in capital structure, the International Fisher Effect, and international tax effects on yield differentials. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

author: Senbet, Lemma W., Hodder, James E.
International aspects, Equilibrium (Economics)

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Patterns of productivity in the finance literature: a study of the bibliometric distributions

Article Abstract:

This study finds a bibliometric regularity in the finance literature that the number of authors publishing n papers is about 1/n(power of c) of those publishing one paper. We find that the finance literature conforms very well to the inverse square law (c = 2) if data are taken from a large collection of journals. When applied to individual finance journals, we find that values of c range from 1.95 to 3.26. We also find that top-rates journals have higher concentrations among their contributors. This implies that the phenomenon "success breeds success" is more common in higher quality publications. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

author: Chung, Kee H., Cox, Raymond A.K.
Literature, Finance

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subjects list: Analysis, Capital market, Capital markets, Financial research
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