Efficiency and the Bear: Short Sales and Markets Around the World

69 Pages Posted: 6 Oct 2004

See all articles by Arturo Bris

Arturo Bris

IMD International; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Yale University - International Center for Finance

William N. Goetzmann

Yale School of Management - International Center for Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Ning Zhu

China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR); Yale School of Management; University of California, Davis - Graduate School of Management

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: September 2004

Abstract

We analyze cross-sectional and time series information from forty-six equity markets around the world, to consider whether short sales restrictions affect the efficiency of the market, and the distributional characteristics of returns to individual stock and market indices. We construct two measures of price efficiency that quantify the asymmetric response of individual stock returns to negative vs. positive information, and find that prices incorporate information faster in countries where short sales are allowed and practiced. This evidence is consistent with more efficient price discovery at the individual security level. A common conjecture by regulators is that short sales restrictions can reduce the relative severity of a market panic. We test this conjecture by examining the skewness of market returns. We find some evidence that in markets where short selling is either prohibited or not practices, market returns display significantly less negative skewness. However, at the individual stock level, short sales restrictions appear to make no difference.

JEL Classification: F36, G15, G28

Suggested Citation

Bris, Arturo and Goetzmann, William N. and Zhu, Ning, Efficiency and the Bear: Short Sales and Markets Around the World (September 2004). Yale ICF Working Paper No. 02-45; EFA 2003 Annual Conference; AFA 2004 San Diego Meetings; 14th Annual Conference on Financial Economics & Accounting, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=357800

Arturo Bris (Contact Author)

IMD International ( email )

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Ning Zhu

China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR)

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Yale School of Management ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/Faculty/Zhu/

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