High Short Interest Effect and Aggregate Volatility Risk
52 Pages Posted: 8 Sep 2011 Last revised: 10 Jan 2015
Date Written: September 17, 2014
Abstract
We propose a risk-based firm-type explanation on why stocks of firms with high relative short interest (RSI) have lower future returns. We argue that these firms have negative alphas because they are a hedge against expected aggregate volatility risk. Consistent with this argument, we show that these firms have high firm-specific uncertainty and option-like equity, and the aggregate volatility risk factor can largely explain the high RSI effect. The key mechanism is that high RSI firms have abundant growth options and, all else equal, growth options become less sensitive to the underlying asset value and more valuable as idiosyncratic volatility goes up. Idiosyncratic volatility usually increases with aggregate volatility (i.e., in recessions).
Keywords: aggregate volatility risk, short interest, real options, mispricing
JEL Classification: G12, G13, G32, E44, D80
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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