This paper proposes a simple back testing procedure that is shown to dramatically improve a panel data model's ability to produce out of sample forecasts. Here the procedure is used to forecast mutual fund alphas. Using monthly data with an OLS model it has been difficult to consistently predict...

This article analyzes hedge funds' expansion during 2000--09 and its implications for stock returns. Hedge funds more than doubled their equity ownership prior to the 2007--09 financial crisis. In this expansion period, their trading predicts increasing one-quarter-ahead stock returns and return...

This paper examines how shareholder investment horizons influence payout policy choices. The authors infer institutional shareholders' investment horizons using the churn rate of their overall stock portfolios prior to the payout decision. The authors find that the frequency and amount of...

We study the link between college interaction and portfolio choice. We consider both the general imprinting of values shared by all the students attending the same school--values-based interaction--and the ensuing interaction with the classmates--bonding-based interaction. We show that even...

We investigate the way investors react to prior gains/losses. We directly examine investor reactions to different definitions of gains and losses (i.e., overall wealth, paper gains and losses, and realized capital gains and losses) and investigate how gains and losses in one category of wealth...