We show that geographical variation in the level of investor sophistication influences local asset prices. Investors in less sophisticated regions exhibit stronger trading correlations, and correspondingly, the returns of firms headquartered in less sophisticated areas are more strongly...

This paper shows that shifts in investor preferences for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) attributes affect asset prices. Using Internet search volume to capture ESG sentiment shifts, we propose a novel firm-level measure of return sensitivity to ESG sentiment (i.e., ESG beta). We...

We examine the impact of culture on portfolio decisions and asset returns, focusing on the large and growing Hispanic population in the United States. We find that both retail and institutional investors in high Hispanic neighborhoods overweight local, lottery-type, and high-momentum stocks and...

This study examines the impact of integral emotions on portfolio decisions and asset prices. Using a new dictionary of anxiety- and excitement-related keywords, we measure the emotional state of the market and compute firm-level sensitivity to changes in market-level emotions (i.e., emotion...

This paper examines the relation between equity portfolio diversification choices of individual investors and stock returns. Using a six-year panel (1991-96) of individual investors, I find that stocks with less diversified individual investor clientele earn higher returns. A zero cost portfolio...

Motivated by the observation that elderly liquidate their mutual fund holdings regularly, we examine whether mortality patterns have a predictable impact on aggregate mutual fund flows and asset prices. Our key conjecture is that periods with high mortality rates would be associated with higher...