This paper presents structural estimates for a bargaining model which nests the right-to-manage, the efficient wage bargaining, the seniority and the standard neo- classical labor demand model as special cases. In contrast to most existing models, our approach accounts for heterogeneous skill...

We evaluate how work experience in mutual funds affects manager skills after they switch to private funds. Using a proprietary Chinese private fund database from 2012 to 2016, we document that, despite their work experience in mutual funds, switched private fund managers significantly...

We empirically analyze the nature of returns to scale in active mutual fund management. We find strong evidence of decreasing returns at the industry level: As the size of the active mutual fund industry increases, a fund's ability to outperform passive benchmarks declines. At the fund level,...

This study examines fund manager skill using a sample of Real Estate Investment Trust Unit Investment Trusts (REIT UITs). It also investigates how REIT UIT performance compares to investing in REIT mutual funds. Are REIT UIT fund managers able to select REITs that deliver superior performance?...

We show that active equity funds deliberately alter their factor loadings rather than maintaining a constant style. Changes are larger following quarters in which funds either under- or out-perform other funds based on returns or fund flows. Motivated by this observation, we identify a new...

The authors examine the underlying factors that drove the outsized performance of the Yale University Endowment over the past two decades. With the aid of the Endowment's published asset allocation targets and their own "Proxy Portfolios" designed to replicate the Endowment's exposure to common...

This paper explores the gamma trading, timing and managerial skills of individual hedge funds across categories. We replicate the non-linear payoffs of hedge funds with traded options, with the option features being endogenously defined in our replication model. On top of providing a flexible...

A common risk that plan sponsors face is incorrectly terminating an effective strategy. Even funds that outperform over the long term can experience subperiods of short-term underperformance. This paper uses a sample of 525 institutional large-cap equity strategies to analyze the likelihood of...

Sénéchal proposes a new analytical framework—the empirical law of active management—to assess the breadth, or diversification, and the skill of a portfolio manager. The framework requires no assumptions regarding a manager’s asset return expectations or investment process. The framework...

What economic forces limit mutual fund managers from generating consistent outperformance? We propose and test the hypothesis that buy-side competition from other funds matters. We make three contributions in this regard. First, we propose new style-based spatial methods to identify the...