We test the role of funding-constrained investors across developed financial markets. We compile direct measures of the severity of funding frictions, or illiquidity, from deviations of government bond yields from a fitted yield curve. Using these illiquidity measures, we first show that higher...

We systematically study the value of the information contained in closed-end fund (CEF) premiums. We parametrically estimate CEF expected returns as a function of the history of CEF premiums, in addition to the current premium, and buy the quintile of funds with the highest expected returns and...

We examine how short sale constraints on portfolio holdings affect closed-end fund (CEF) discounts and thereby distinguish behavioral-based explanations from fundamental-based explanations of the discounts. Using Regulation SHO as a natural experiment that relaxes short-sale constraints on pilot...

In a frictionless world, a closed-end fund's (CEF's) premium equals its price minus both its NAVPS (net asset value per share) and present value of the net benefits (PVNB) from liquidity enhancement, managerial abilities after costs, and leverage. The premium can differ further due to frictions...

This study analyzes the motives for and consequences of funds' credit default swap (CDS) investments using mutual funds' quarterly holdings from pre- to post-financial crisis. Funds resort to CDS investment when facing unpredictable liquidity needs. Funds sell more in reference entities where...

We analyse the incentives for information disclosure on financial markets. We show that borrowers may have incentives to voluntarily obfuscate information and that doing so is most attractive for claims that are inherently hard to value, such as portfolios of subprime mortgages. Interestingly,...

We establish a link between illiquidity and positive autocorrelation in asset returns among a sample of hedge funds, mutual funds, and various equity portfolios. For hedge funds, this link can be confirmed by comparing the return autocorrelations of funds with shorter vs. longer...

Purpose - This article examines whether deviations from fundamental value or closed-end country fund's discounts or premiums forecast future share price returns or net asset returns. Design/methodology/approach - The main empirical (econometric) tool is a vector autoregressive (VAR) model. The...