Excess Stock Return Comovements and the Role of Investor Sentiment

25 Pages Posted: 8 Jul 2011 Last revised: 19 Aug 2012

See all articles by Bart Frijns

Bart Frijns

Open University of the Netherlands - School of Management

Willem F. C. Verschoor

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics; Tinbergen Institute

Remco C. J. Zwinkels

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Tinbergen Institute

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 7, 2011

Abstract

This paper investigates whether investor sentiment can explain stock return comovements. Our findings demonstrate that since the 1960s, there has been a clear and rapid increase in correlations between international equity markets. Decomposing the equity returns into fundamental and non-fundamental components reveals that the increased correlation is driven by the non-fundamental part. We find that stock return comovements are mainly driven by investor sentiment, which explains the level, variance, and covariance of the non-fundamental component of returns.

Keywords: Behavioral Finance, Excess Comovement; Investor Sentiment; International Equity Markets

JEL Classification: C32, G15

Suggested Citation

Frijns, Bart and Verschoor, Willem F. C. and Zwinkels, Remco C.J., Excess Stock Return Comovements and the Role of Investor Sentiment (July 7, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1881006 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1881006

Bart Frijns

Open University of the Netherlands - School of Management ( email )

Valkenburgerweg 177
Heerlen, NL-6401DL
Netherlands

Willem F. C. Verschoor

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, 1081 HV
Netherlands

Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Gustav Mahlerplein 117
Amsterdam, 1082 MS
Netherlands

Remco C.J. Zwinkels (Contact Author)

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, NH 1081 HV
Netherlands
+31205985220 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://research.vu.nl/en/persons/remco-zwinkels

Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://tinbergen.nl/person/1574/remco-zwinkels

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