Abstract:
We examine the effects of limited investor attention on stock returns by using Google search volume index to measure investor attention. We also investigate whether national culture and market development have any role in this relationship. We find that the impact of investor attention on stock returns is not consistent throughout the world. The direction and significance of the impact vary from country to country. We also find that investor attention is more significant in individualistic countries, countries with high uncertainty avoidance, and developed countries. Furthermore, we find that the impact of abnormal returns on investor attention is more consistent across countries. One-week lagged absolute abnormal returns can positively predict investor attention in sixteen countries. Our results also show that investor attention returns to normal levels in three weeks in individualistic countries and countries with low uncertainty avoidance.This study reexamines the influence of different investor types' net options demand on the KOSPI200 options-implied volatility dynamics. We extend Bollen and Whaley (2004) by accounting for options traders' hedging demand for futures contracts, intraday seasonality, dynamic impacts of net buying pressure on implied volatility, and the effect of regulatory reform in the options market. Our empirical analyses provide evidence for the direction-learning behavior of foreign institutional investors. We further show that foreign institutions' net demand is the most informative about the underlying market volatility independent of the market reform, while domestic retail investors become partially informed only after the reform.
