Sergei Sarkissian

The alpha factor asset pricing model: A parable

Recent empirical studies use the returns of attribute-sorted portfolios of common stocks as if they represent risk factors in an asset pricing model. If the attributes are chosen following an empirically observed relation to the cross-section of stock returns, such portfolios will appear to be useful risk factors, even when the attributes are completely unrelated to risk. We illustrate this result using a parable and argue that the moral of the story is important in practice. ( 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: C5; G12

City Size and Fund Performance

The literature predicts that the average skill level and productivity are higher in larger cities. Prior studies use workers’ wage or education differentials to indirectly link city size and output. This article relates city size and productivity directly, using performance data of U.S. equity mutual funds. On average, funds in financial centers perform better than other funds in terms of both gross and risk-adjusted returns, but this difference is driven only by more experienced managers. Among funds in financial centers there is strong evidence of a positive relation between performance and manager experience in a given city, especially among New York funds. More importantly, we observe performance improvements of the same manager at the same fund in financial centers but not elsewhere. Our tests provide novel evidence of knowledge spillovers and learning in cities.

The Dynamics of Geographic versus Sectoral Diversification: Is There a Link to the Real Economy?

We study the dynamics of gains from sectoral versus geographic diversification and relate economic sources to changes in those gains. We estimate conditional correlations between returns on the U.S. equity market and 16 equity markets and 10 local industries from other OECD countries and find that the average correlation across countries has increased in relation to that across industries. We also show that this process is accompanied by increased alignment in the industrial structures across countries and an increase in the average conditional correlation of aggregate production growth across countries relative to that of disaggregated production growth, especially among developed economies. Thus, the increased benefits of industry-level investing across developed markets are reflected in the real side of the global economy. However, country-level investing should remain the predominant asset allocation approach in emerging markets.

Cross listing waves

Using a 57-year global panel of listings on foreign stock exchanges, we identify waves in foreign listing activity at the host market, home market, and industry levels. We observe that the waves in the host market are often due to cross-listing waves in home markets or industries that share a particular affiliation with the respective host market. We then find that cross-listing waves in a given host country or from a given home country largely coincide with the outperformance of that country’s economy and financial markets relative to other competing markets. We also show that firms that list their shares during waves are associated with a temporary value premium. Our results provide novel evidence of non-monotonic market development across countries and over time.

Cross-Sectional Variations in the Degree of Global Integration: The Case of Russian Equities

While there is a significant amount of research on integration differences across countries, the integration variations across industry or market capitalization groups within a single country have been largely unexplored. The degree of integration, however, varies widely cross-sectionally. In this paper, we analyze the degree of integration of Russian stocks grouped into five size and five industry portfolios using the GMM methodology and conditional asset pricing model. In line with economic intuition, the estimates of average degrees of integration show a noticeable downward trend with a decrease in the portfolio size and are also smaller for less diversified industries. The strength of integration is higher for those portfolios that have more firms which cross-list their stocks on foreign exchanges and/or sell their output internationally.

An algorithm for “Ulam's Game” and its application to error correcting codes

Abstract A near-optimal algorithm for “Ulams Game” is presented. The relationship between the game and multiple error correcting codes is discussed. For many cases, codes derived from winning strategies of the game are optimal for the communication scheme with noisy forward and noiseless feedback channels.

The Nature of the Foreign Listing Premium: A Cross-Country Examination

An expanding literature asserts that non-US firms achieve a unique valuation premium for listing on US equity markets. In this paper we test the uniqueness of the US foreign listing premium by examining the premium achieved by foreign listings across a global set of stock exchanges. We highlight that the documented valuation premium for listing on US exchanges is not unique but common to many home and host markets including US firms that list abroad. The cross-sectional variation in the valuation premium appears to have little association with such cross-country institutional features as investor protection rules, law enforcement practice, or accounting disclosure standards. Rather the premium appears most related to variation in pre-listing valuation ratios.

Treasury Bond Illiquidity and Global Equity Returns

In this study, using data from 46 markets and a 34-year time period, we examine the impact of the illiquidity of U.S. Treasuries on global asset valuation. We find that it predicts equity returns in both developed and emerging markets. This predictive relation remains intact after controlling for various worldand country-level variables. Asset pricing tests further reveal that bond illiquidity is a priced factor even in the presence of other conventional risks. Since the illiquidity of Treasuries is known to reflect monetary and macroeconomic shocks, our results suggest that it can be considered a proxy for aggregate worldwide risks.

To Group or Not to Group? Evidence from Mutual Fund Databases

Despite the overwhelming trend in mutual funds toward team management, empirical studies find no performance benefits for this phenomenon. We show it is caused by large discrepancies in reported managerial structures in Center for Research in Security Prices and Morningstar Principia data sets versus U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission records, resulting in up to 50-basis-points underestimation of the team impact on fund returns. Using more accurate Morningstar Direct data, we find that team-managed funds outperform single-managed funds across various performance metrics. The relation between team size and fund performance is nonlinear. Also, team-managed funds take on no more risk than single-managed funds. Overall, team management benefits fund industry performance.

Market and Regional Segmentation and Risk Premia in the First Era of Financial Globalization

We study market segmentation effects using data on U.S. railroads that list their bonds in New York and London between 1873 and 1913. This sample provides a unique setting for such analysis because of the precision offered by bond yields in cost of capital estimation, the geography-specific nature of railroad assets, and ongoing substantial technological change. We document a significant reduction in market segmentation over time. While New York bond yields exceeded those in London in the 1870s, this premium disappeared by the early 1900s. However, the segmentation premium persisted in the more remote regions of the United States. Received June 18, 2015; editorial decision October 4, 2017 by Editor Robin Greenwood.