Investors have traditionally been viewed as economically rational individuals who make decisions based on all available information. They have been assumed to use probability functions to arrive at the most optimal de...Investors have traditionally been viewed as economically rational individuals who make decisions based on all available information. They have been assumed to use probability functions to arrive at the most optimal decision. More recent studies propose that investors are irrational and systematically overreact to good and bad information events. The concept of the rational investor has been supported by among others Efficient Market Hypothesis and Modem Portfolio Theory. Other studies opposed to the notion of rational investors have identified psychological biases that influence decision making process of an investor, and leading them to make irrational decisions. Several anomalies have been identified that deviate from rational behavior. The objective of this paper was to test for investor rationality for companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. This paper tested overreaction by investors to news and performance of companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Market as an anomaly that has been proven in other markets. The test involved forming companies into two portfolios, one of extreme good performers and the other of extreme poor performers during the base year. Performance of these portfolios was analyzed for a nine year period from the year of portfolio formation. The results are consistent with the notion of overreaction, showing that investors overreact to both good and bad news. Over the study period the loser portfolio outperformed the winner portfolio by about 35.92%. This confrere that investors are irrational and make decisions based on some biases.展开更多
The global economic turmoil from 2008 inflicted permanent damage to EU economies and its impact is still strong. To address the problems and cope with the crisis, governments were forced to conduct anti-cyclical polic...The global economic turmoil from 2008 inflicted permanent damage to EU economies and its impact is still strong. To address the problems and cope with the crisis, governments were forced to conduct anti-cyclical policies in different forms. In most countries, this resulted in a widening budget deficit and mounting government debt. Then, a raft of measures to deal with fiscal instability followed, which, however, restricted growth and had high economic and social costs. Bulgaria was among the EU Member States that turned fiscal discipline into a priority and was one of the few to manage, at least seemingly, to achieve satisfying results. The benefits that the country reaped are indisputable but the price it had to pay was too high. Many private sector companies faced insolvency, unemployment hit record highs, and important structural reforms were delayed.展开更多
文摘Investors have traditionally been viewed as economically rational individuals who make decisions based on all available information. They have been assumed to use probability functions to arrive at the most optimal decision. More recent studies propose that investors are irrational and systematically overreact to good and bad information events. The concept of the rational investor has been supported by among others Efficient Market Hypothesis and Modem Portfolio Theory. Other studies opposed to the notion of rational investors have identified psychological biases that influence decision making process of an investor, and leading them to make irrational decisions. Several anomalies have been identified that deviate from rational behavior. The objective of this paper was to test for investor rationality for companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. This paper tested overreaction by investors to news and performance of companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Market as an anomaly that has been proven in other markets. The test involved forming companies into two portfolios, one of extreme good performers and the other of extreme poor performers during the base year. Performance of these portfolios was analyzed for a nine year period from the year of portfolio formation. The results are consistent with the notion of overreaction, showing that investors overreact to both good and bad news. Over the study period the loser portfolio outperformed the winner portfolio by about 35.92%. This confrere that investors are irrational and make decisions based on some biases.
文摘The global economic turmoil from 2008 inflicted permanent damage to EU economies and its impact is still strong. To address the problems and cope with the crisis, governments were forced to conduct anti-cyclical policies in different forms. In most countries, this resulted in a widening budget deficit and mounting government debt. Then, a raft of measures to deal with fiscal instability followed, which, however, restricted growth and had high economic and social costs. Bulgaria was among the EU Member States that turned fiscal discipline into a priority and was one of the few to manage, at least seemingly, to achieve satisfying results. The benefits that the country reaped are indisputable but the price it had to pay was too high. Many private sector companies faced insolvency, unemployment hit record highs, and important structural reforms were delayed.
