Who makes markets

A dealer needs access to order flow and information to make a market profitably in a Nasdaq stock. Several variables that proxy for the stocks that an individual market maker's brokerage customers trade, including volume, location, underwriting participation and analyst coverage, are significant determinants of market making activity. Informational advantages may also factor in the market making decision as evidenced by dealers specializing in industries. These findings suggest that individual dealers have competitive advantages in making markets in specific stocks, and that potential market making competition comes from the dealers who share those advantages rather than all Nasdaq market makers.     

The medium is the message: Learning channels,financial literacy,and stock market participation

This paper investigates the effects of learning channels on stock market participation. More specifically, we investigate the direct effects of learning about financial matters from one's private network, financial advisors, and the media, as well as the moderating effects of financial literacy on the relationship between learning from these channels and stock market participation. Analyzing a unique cross-section data that combine survey data and bank register data on individual retail investors, we find that media is the only learning channel that increases the likelihood of owning stocks and the portfolio share invested in stocks. We also find that financial literacy has a significant moderating effect: Interactions point to the joint importance of learning from media and financial literacy for individuals' stock market participation. Our findings suggest implications to policymakers when designing financial education programs.     

网络关注度对我国股票市场信息不对称程度的影响

以2013-2016年391支股票的360搜索指数中的投资者关注度和媒体关注度的指数作为网络关注度度量指标,同时基于股票市场交易数据采用多种信息不对称计算方法构建了信息不对称性度量指标,并进一步构造了信息不对称主成分综合指标。通过建立横截面回归模型,探究投资者和媒体关注度对我国股票市场的信息不对称程度的影响作用。实证分析及稳健性检验结果表明：投资者关注度的增加会减少知情交易及信息不透明程度,从而减少了股票市场的信息不对称程度,提高了股票市场的流动性;媒体关注度对不同的信息不对称性度量指标的影响存在着不一致性。本研究通过探索投资者关注度及媒体关注度在新兴市场中的应用,对于我国证券市场监管层制定政策以及对于普通投资者优化投资策略都具有重要的参考意义。     

社会养老保险“多轨制”与家庭股票市场参与

依据中国家庭金融调查数据,运用Probit模型和Tobit模型,考量社会养老保险“多轨制”对家庭股票市场参与的影响。结果显示：社会养老保险“多轨制”通过缓解收入风险、健康风险与风险厌恶程度等,影响家庭股票市场参与;家庭净资产水平和信任水平异质性,影响家庭股票市场参与差异。其中,参加企职保或机关事业单位养老保险促进家庭股票市场参与显著,参加城乡居保影响不显著。鉴于此,应进一步整合社会养老保险“多轨制”,提高城乡居保的养老保障水平,充分发挥社会养老保险对家庭股票市场参与的促进作用。     

The Impact of Children on Women's Paid Work*

This paper investigates how and when differences in work behaviour between men and women develop, focusing on the evolution of the gender gaps over the period of family development. The findings support the theory that gender differences in the formal labour market stem from the presence of children in the home and that childbirth and children entering school are critical times in women's employment. Births mark a dramatic decline in participation in work for women, while school entry is a time of considerable turnover in participation. The length of absence from work following a subsequent birth is closely related to whether the mother was in work between births, while maternity pay and leave entitlements appear to influence the precise timing of the return to work. In addition, a return to work following birth is often only temporary. The gradual decline in women's relative wages following the first birth appears to stem from the accumulation of several shorter periods of unusually low wage growth for women around the times of birth and school entry. There is also a sharp movement into part‐time work for women following childbirth and a transition towards non‐permanent positions and non‐supervisory roles at both critical points.     

The Impact of Cross‐Listing on the Home Market's Information Environment and Stock Price Efficiency

We empirically examine changes in information asymmetry and informational efficiency of cross‐listed stocks in their home market around a cross‐listing in the United States. We estimate intraday market microstructure measures of information asymmetry and price efficiency, and find that a U.S. cross‐listing significantly improves the quality of a firm's information environment and stock price efficiency in the home market. This improvement is stronger for cross‐listings that take place after the adoption of Sarbanes‐Oxley Act. Our results demonstrate that stricter disclosure from a U.S. cross‐listing is beneficial, in line with the legal and reputational bonding hypotheses.     

Peer performance and stock market entry

Peer performance can influence the adoption of financial innovations and investment styles. We present evidence of this type of social influence: recent stock returns that local peers experience affect an individual's stock market entry decision, particularly in areas with better opportunities for social learning. The likelihood of entry does not decrease as returns fall below zero, consistent with people not talking about decisions that have produced inferior outcomes. Market returns, media coverage, local stocks, omitted local variables, short sales constraints, and stock purchases within households do not seem to explain these results.     

Locating women's rights in the Blue Revolution

This paper explores the role of water in women's lives, and the impact that a Blue Revolution would have on them. The article is about women who have managed and conserved water resources but whose voices go unheard, and whose knowledge is ignored. It explores the system related to water, which is blind to the needs of women and continues to be inclined in favour of male technologies and ideologies. The paper concludes that a Blue Revolution as envisaged by a male designed and implemented policy in the market place would keep women out. The initiation of recent polices which have started to treat it as a product in the market economy and not a service, is endangering women's choices for a better life. Planning based on technocratic and bureaucratic groups without the people who have lived and coped with nature, it ascertains will intensify gender-based differences. It suggests that any future hydrological regime maintenance must acknowledge women's rights. It concludes that an emphasis on both men and women's participation and a decentralised policy planning which encourages the use of local knowledge, would bring about a Blue Revolution that is close to people.     

Corporate Scandals and Household Stock Market Participation

We show that, after the revelation of corporate fraud in a state, household stock market participation in that state decreases. Households decrease holdings in fraudulent as well as nonfraudulent firms, even if they do not hold stocks in fraudulent firms. Within a state, households with more lifetime experience of corporate fraud hold less equity. Following the exogenous increase in fraud revelation due to Arthur Andersen's demise, states with more Arthur Andersen clients experience a larger decrease in stock market participation. We provide evidence that the documented effect is likely to reflect a loss of trust in the stock market.     

Why do individuals not participate in the stock market?

We use a representative survey to study economic and non-economic factors that affect stock market participation. We find that many individuals suffer from inertia in the sense that they do not want to take the time and effort to invest in stocks. Inertia also explains stock market participation in addition to earlier documented factors such as actual and perceived financial literacy, trust, and the personal equity risk premium (PERP). A high percentage of non-investors (66%) assert that they will never invest in stocks. We find that inertia affects this assertion both directly and indirectly through factors such as age and gender.