http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/4199/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/21526/ 2010-11-01T00:00:00Z We test whether Thai listed firms with higher levels of good governance policy adoption are less likely to violate listing rules and laws designed to protect shareholders. Our results suggest that firms on average implement, substantively as opposed to symbolically, recommended governance policies, as violations occur less frequently among firms with higher governance policy adoption scores. However, we also find evidence of symbolic governance among a small group of 'talk-only' firms that issue statements about governance while lagging in the adoption of policies related to shareholder rights and the board of directors. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23566/ 2010-08-01T00:00:00Z Defined benefit pension schemes accumulate assets with the ultimate objective of honoring their obligation to the beneficiaries. Liabilities should be at the center of designing investment policies and serve as the ultimate reference point for evaluating and allocating risks and measuring performance. The goal of the investment policy should be to maximize expected excess returns over liabilities subject to an acceptable level of risk that is expressed relative to liabilities. In this article, we argue for the use of a liability-relative drawdown optimization approach to construct investment portfolios. Asset and liability returns are simulated using a vector autoregressive process with state variables. We find that drawdown optimal portfolios provide better downside protection, are better diversified and tend to be less equity centric while providing higher expected returns compared to surplus variance portfolios. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23567/ 2010-06-01T00:00:00Z In this paper we empirically test if loss-aversion affects household participation in equity markets, household allocations to equity, and household allocations between mutual funds and individual stocks. Using household survey data, we obtain direct measures of each surveyed household's loss-aversion coefficient from questions involving hypothetical payoffs. We find that higher loss-aversion is associated with a lower probability of participation. We also find that higher loss-aversion reduces the probability of direct stockholding by significantly more than the probability of owning mutual funds. After controlling for sample selection we do not find a relationship between loss-aversion and portfolio allocations to equity. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/16560/ 2009-06-01T00:00:00Z This article studies the impact of heterogeneous loss averse investors on asset prices. In very good states loss averse investors become gradually less risk averse as wealth rises above their reference point, pushing up equity prices. When wealth drops below the reference point the investors become risk seeking and demand for stocks increases drastically, eventually leading to a forced sell-off and stock market bust in bad states. Heterogeneity in reference points and initial wealth of the loss averse investors does not change the salient features of the equilibrium price process, such as a relatively high equity premium, high volatility and counter-cyclical changes in the equity premium. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6185/ 2004-11-01T00:00:00Z This paper analyses the optimal investment strategy for loss averse investors, assuming a complete market and general Ito processes for the asset prices. The loss averse investor follows a partial portfolio insurance strategy. When the planning horizon of the investor is short, i.e. less than 5 years, he or she considerably reduces the initial portfolio weight of stocks compared to an investor with smooth power utility. Consistent with popular investment advice, the initial portfolio weight of stocks of a loss averse investor typically increases with the investment horizon. The empirical section of the paper estimates the level of loss aversion implied by historical US stock market data, using a representative agent model. We find that loss aversion and risk aversion cannot be disentangled and provide a similar fit to the data. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/698/ 2003-07-17T00:00:00Z People are concerned about maintaining purchasing power in times of rising inflation. We formulate investment objectives in terms of real wealth, assuming investors derive utility from the number of goods they can buy with their monetary wealth. We derive closed-form solutions for the portfolio choice problem of constant relative risk averse investors, under the assumption that inflation rates are mean-reverting. We consider alternative specifications for the inflation compensation offered by the available assets, in order to study the effect on portfolio choice and welfare. Moreover, we study the added value of inflation-indexed bonds for the investor in our real framework. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/699/ 2003-07-17T00:00:00Z In this paper we study the retirement saving problem from the point of view of a plan sponsor, who makes contribution payments for the future retirement of an employee. The plan sponsor considers the employee's labor income as investment-benchmark in order to ensure the continuation of consumption habits after retirement. We demonstrate that the demand for risky assets increases at low wealth levels due to the contribution payments. We quantify the demand for hedging against changes in wage growth and find that it is relatively small. We show that downside-risk measures increase risk-taking at both low and high levels of wealth. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1654/ 2000-05-24T00:00:00Z In 1996 Alan Greenspan warned that stock prices were "unduly escalated" and reflected "irrational exuberance". In this paper we describe an economy that can support a prolonged surge of asset prices, accompanied by a sharp increase of volatility. We study an equilibrium model where some agents are risk averse while others have loss averse preferences over wealth, according to prospect theory. We derive closed-form solutions for the equilibrium prices. In good states of the world, the loss averse investors with wealth above the threshold are momentum traders, thereby pushing prices far above the level in the benchmark economy. In moderately bad states of the world, the loss averse investors are contrarian, and equilibrium prices are kept relatively high and stable. Finally in extremely bad states, the loss averse investors are forced to retreat from the stock market in order to avoid bankruptcy, resulting in a sharp price drop. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1645/ 2000-04-12T00:00:00Z This paper considers dynamic asset allocation in a mean versus downside-risk framework. We derive closed-form solutions for the optimal portfolio weights when returns are lognormally distributed. Moreover, we study the impact of skewed and fat-tailed return distributions. We find that the optimal fraction invested in stocks is V-shaped: at low and high levels of wealth the investor increases the stock weight. The optimal strategy also exhibits reverse time-effects: the investor allocates more to stocks as the horizon approaches. Furthermore, the investment strategy becomes more risky for negatively skewed and fat-tailed return distributions. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1641/ 2000-03-01T00:00:00Z Prospect theory and loss aversion play a dominant role in behavioral finance. In this paper we derive closed-form solutions for optimal portfolio choice under loss aversion. When confronted with gains a loss averse investor behaves similar to a portfolio insurer. When confronted with losses, the investor aims at maximizing the probability that terminal wealth exceeds his aspiration level. Our analysis indicates that a representative agent model with loss aversion cannot resolve the equity premium puzzle. We also extend the martingale methodology to allow for more general utility functions and provide a simple approach to incorporate skewed and fat-tailed return distributions.