Browsing by Author "Suominen, Matti, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Finance, Finland"

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    Essays on Investor and Broker Behavior in Equity Markets
    (Aalto University, 2021) Li, Yijie; Lof, Matthijs, Dr., Aalto University, Finland; Torstila, Sami, Dr., Aalto University, Finland; Rahoituksen laitos; Department of Finance; Kauppakorkeakoulu; School of Business; Suominen, Matti, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Finance, Finland
    This doctoral dissertation studies the behavior of investors and brokers on equity markets. It consists of an introductory chapter and three self-contained essays. The first essay, joint with Matti Suominen, studies the impact of unemployment and its growth on the expected stock market returns both theoretically and empirically using the U.S. data. Our theoretical model predicts that the expected equity return increases with unemployment and unemployment growth, and that the impacts of unemployment and its growth on the expected equity returns reinforce each other. Our empirical evidence supports these predictions, even when alternative measures of unemployment and its growth are used. Additionally, we find that FED tends to smooth the high stock market returns caused by high unemployment and high unemployment growth using various monetary policies, but these FED actions do not drive the stock return predictability of unemployment. The second essay investigates the impact of trader anonymity on unsophisticated liquidity using a novel measure – duration-until-next-unsophisticated-order (DUNUO). I analyze DUNUO following anonymous and non-anonymous trades on Nasdaq Helsinki, where a voluntary post-trade anonymity model was launched. I find that DUNUO is statistically and economically longer after anonymous trades than after non-anonymous trades, suggesting a negative impact of anonymity on unsophisticated liquidity. This essay also shows that the negative impact of anonymity on unsophisticated liquidity decreases with a declining level of information asymmetry. This relationship is robust to alternative measures of unsophisticated liquidity. The third essay, utilizing the same voluntary anonymity model, examines the determinants of brokers' choice for anonymity. This essay shows that, in a market where brokers can choose to reveal or conceal identities in the real-time trade feed on a monthly basis, local brokers and brokers who provide online discount brokerages to retail investors are more reluctant to select anonymity. This essay also provides evidence that the brokers' trading patterns can explain their anonymity choices.
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    Essays on Time Series Momentum
    (Aalto University, 2023) Pitkäjärvi, Aleksi; Jylhä, Petri, Associate Professor Petri, Aalto University, Finland; Lof, Matthijs, Assoc. Prof., Aalto University, Finland; Rahoituksen laitos; Department of Finance; Kauppakorkeakoulu; School of Business; Suominen, Matti, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Finance, Finland
    The three essays in this dissertation are all related to the topic of time series momentum. In the first essay, my co-authors and I introduce a cross-asset extension of time series momentum that we call cross-asset time series momentum. We show that cross-asset time series momentum outperforms time series momentum, and we link the profitability of both strategies to slow-moving capital in global bond and equity markets. In the second essay, I derive a decomposition of the expected return difference between the two strategies, in order to identify precisely why cross-asset time series momentum outperforms time series momentum. Finally, in the third essay, I present a theory of time series momentum and cross-asset time series momentum that is based on the assumption that some investors have limited attention. I show that investors' limited attention can explain the profitability of both strategies, and I argue that it can also provide a theoretical microfoundation for the slow-moving capital evidence presented in the first essay.