Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Fatima de Brito.pdf: 1019818 bytes, checksum: df8f5c83f763b3f825e75f17c1d377ab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-10-23 / From its beginning in 2007, the U. S. Subprime Crisis can be considered the largest one occurred in the century so far, mainly for its extension, since shortly after the release of the first facts, many countries have shown signs of having been contaminated by its effects. Moreover, other nations such as Brazil sought to say that would not be affected, given the solid basis that its economy has shown. Brazil really showed signs of improvement in the economy a few years before the crisis: Gross Domestic Product - GDP was growing, inflation was under control and the employment level improved. By contrast, the United States had problems in the stock market in 2000 and had suffered the biggest terrorist attack in its history in 2001, which led to an outbreak of wars in other countries. This situation generated a bad effect on the U.S. economy, since the level of employment did not improve and prices rose, mainly on real estate assets. Many signs of problems in the U.S. economy were released, mainly the huge appreciation in real estate prices. In early 2007, companies in the mortgage industry began to have financial problems, however it was in August, when the French bank BNP Paribas announced the suspension of investment funds with roles in applications related to the mortgage that the world turned its look at the U.S. housing market. Throughout the following months, as the situation did not improve, many companies divulged disclosed financial problems and went bankrupt, such as Lehman Brothers, a hundred years old banking institution., which announced its bankruptcy in September 2008. Such a troubled scenario on the U.S. inspired this research to evaluate the effects of the crisis on the stock price of companies in the American an Brazilian Building sector. The industry was chosen due to its importance in generating employment, recent expansion of the real estate sector in Brazil and its link to the U.S. mortgage contracts. Five U.S. construction companies and also 5 Brazilian companies with publicly exchanged stocks were chosen. We selected the event study technique to accomplish the work. We found that the two facts related to Banco BNP Paribas and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers generated abnormal returns in stock prices of those 10 companies in the days preceding and following the disclosure of facts,, which contradicts the postulated assumption of the efficient market theory: that given that the market rationality and prices are adjusted to the information disclosed, the expected return is normal, / Iniciada nos Estados Unidos em 2007, a chamada Crise Subprime pode ser considerada a maior ocorrida no século até o momento, principalmente pela sua extensão, já que, pouco tempo depois da divulgação dos primeiros fatos, muitos países deram sinais de terem sido contaminados por seus efeitos. Por outro lado, outras nações como o Brasil procuravam afirmar que não seriam afetados, dados os sólidos fundamentos que sua economia apresentava. O Brasil realmente o apresentava sinais de melhoria na economia alguns anos antes, o Produto Interno Bruto PIB crescia, a inflação estava sob controle e o nível de emprego melhorava. Em contrapartida, os Estados Unidos, vinha de problemas no mercado acionário em 2000 e havia sofrido o maior ataque terrorista de sua história em 2001, o qual motivou o início de guerras em outros países. Tal situação produziu efeito ruim na economia norte-americana, uma vez que o nível de emprego não melhorava e os preços subiam, principalmente os dos imóveis. Muitos sinais dos problemas na economia norte-americana eram divulgados, principalmente quanto à valorização gigantesca nos preços dos imóveis. E, no início de 2007, empresas do setor de hipoteca começaram a ter problemas financeiros; no entanto foi em agosto, quando o Banco francês PNB Paribas divulgou a suspensão de fundos de investimentos com aplicações em papéis vinculados à hipoteca, que o mundo voltou seu olhar para o mercado imobiliário norte-americano. No decorrrer dos meses seguintes, a situação não melhorava, pelo contrário, mais empresas divulgavam problemas financeiros e até faliam, como foi o caso do Lehman Brothers, uma instituição bancária centenária, que anunciou falência em setembro de 2008. O cenário tão conturbado nos EUA motivou a realização da pesquisa para avaliar os efeitos da crise no preço das ações de empresas do setor de construção civil norteamericano e brasileiro. O setor de construção civil foi escolhido em função sua importância na geração de emprego, a recente expansão do setor imobiliário no Brasil e seu vínculo com os contratos de hipoteca nos EUA. Foram selecionadas 5 construtoras norte-americanas e 5 brasileiras com ações negociadas em bolsas de valores. Para a realização da pesquisa, foi selecionada a técnica estudo de eventos, e o resultado apurado foi que os dois fatos relacionados ao Banco BNP Paribas e a falência do Lehman Brothers geraram retornos anormais nos preços das ações das 10 empresas, nos dias anteriores e posteriores à divulgação dos fatos. Tal resultado contraria o postulado da teoria de mercado eficiente, visto que o retorno esperado é o normal, dado que o mercado é racional e os preços são ajustados às informações divulgadas

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:45:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Augusto Silva Barros.pdf: 1344798 bytes, checksum: d58577c9fe688328227f94dfa2fa7fa2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-05-31 / The dissertation investigates Brazilian financial behavior and what determines it: reason or emotion? A survey based on Behavior Finance fundaments was applied to 641 Brazilians segmented by gender, age, income and scholarship. The survey evaluates in each group the presence of heuristics and bias such as, for instance, overconfidence, representativeness, adjustment to anchor and procrastination. The presence of emotion as an essential factor in order to analyze the financial behavior is in opposition to the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), dominant theory in Finance until the economic crisis that was initiated in 2008. The EMH propositions are very useful, but excessively simplified to reflect all economic live. On the other side human behavior is ruled by our very complex brain. The caricatured Homo Economicus looks like designated to disappear. This paper central hypothesis is that human beings can take irrational financial decisions, based on emotions that are, apparently, much more than market anomalies . Emotions has ever been treated as relevant on financial behavior field by financial market operators, but recently a growing number of scientific articles in Business Administration, Economics and Psychology also indicates that fact. Survey‟s result shows that reason and emotion influences Brazilians financial behavior. As was expected the paper indicates significant differences according to gender, age, scholarship and income / A dissertação investiga o comportamento financeiro do brasileiro e os fatores que o determinam: razão ou emoção? Uma pesquisa baseada em fundamentos de Finanças Comportamentais foi aplicada a 641 brasileiros segmentados por gênero, idade, renda e escolaridade. Na pesquisa é avaliada em cada grupo a presença de heurísticas e vises como, por exemplo, excesso de confiança, representatividade, ancoragem e procrastinação. A presença da emoção como fator essencial para analisar o comportamento financeiro se contrapõe à Hipótese dos Mercados Eficientes (HME), pensamento dominante em Finanças até a crise econômica iniciada em 2008. As proposições da HME são modelos úteis, porém excessivamente simplificados para refletir toda a movimentação econômica. Por outro lado o comportamento humano é regido pelo nosso cérebro que é bastante complexo. Assim o caricato Homo Economicus parece destinado a sair de cena. A hipótese central deste trabalho é a de que os seres humanos podem tomar decisões financeiras irracionais, baseadas na emoção e que são, aparentemente, muito mais do que simples anomalias dos mercados. As emoções sempre foram tratadas como relevantes no âmbito do comportamento financeiro por operadores do mercado, porém recentemente um número cada vez maior de pesquisas científicas em Administração, Economia e Psicologia também indicam o fato. Os resultados da pesquisa mostram que tanto razão quanto emoção influenciam o comportamento financeiro do brasileiro. Como se esperava, o estudo indica diferenças significativas no comportamento de acordo com o gênero, idade, escolaridade e renda

本研究最主要的貢獻為建構一具台灣股市投資人情緒指數並檢測投資人情緒指標與台灣股市的關係。本研究以台灣股票市場為背景，研究期間為2001年1月至2010年12月。利用Baker, Wurgler and Yuan在2009年提出的方法以Volatility Premium, Number of IPOs, First Day Return of IPOs, Turnover Rate四個變數編製台灣股市投資人情緒指數，並探討台灣股市投資人情緒指數變動量與台股大盤報酬之間的領先落後關係。 實證結果發現，在較短的時間，如月資料，台股大盤報酬會影響下一期的台灣股市投資人情緒指數變動量，而在較長的時間，如季資料，台灣股市投資人情緒指數變動量會影響四期後的台股大盤報酬，即短期台灣股市投資人情緒指數變動量為大盤報酬之落後指標，長期則為大盤報酬之領先指標，短期原因為投資人情緒指數受大盤報酬影響，而易有追高殺低現象，長期雖投資人情緒領先大盤報酬的結果在統計上顯著，但經濟上並無顯著意義，另一方面，台股大盤報酬與台灣股市投資人情緒指數變動量間存在正相關，即不能以台灣股市投資人情緒指數變動量預測股市泡沫。 / The main contribution would be the construction of the sentiment index in Taiwan stock markets and examining the relationship between the variation of the sentiment index and Taiwan stock market returns. The background is Taiwan stock markets. The sample period is from January 2001 to December 2010. We use the method in Baker, Wurgler and Yuan (2009) to measure investors’ sentiment and explore the relationship between the variation of the sentiment index and Taiwan stock market returns. The empirical result reveals that in monthly data, Taiwan stock market returns is the leading indicator of the variation of investment sentiment. In a longer term, we mean the quarterly data in this paper, the situation changes. In quarterly data, the variation of the investment sentiment is the leading indicator of the Taiwan stock market returns. In addition, instead of a negative correlation between the stock market returns and our sentiment index, we prove that our sentiment index have a positive impact on stock market returns. Therefore, we could not use this sentiment index to forecast future economic bubbles.

The Black-Litterman model is analyzed in three steps seeking to investigate, develop and test the B-L model in an applied perspective. The first step mathematically derives the Black-Litterman model from a sampling theory approach generating a new interpretation of the model and an interpretable formula for the parameter weight-on-views.  The second step draws upon behavioural finance and partly explains why managers find B-L portfolios intuitively accurate and also comments on the risk that overconfident managers state too low levels-of-unconfidence. The third step, a case study, concerns the implementation of the B-L model at a bank. It generates insights about the key-features of the model and their interrelations, the importance of understanding the model when using it, alternative use of the model, differences between the model and reality and the influence of social and organisational context on the use of the model. The research implies that it is not the B-L model alone but the combination model-user-situation that may prove rewarding. Overall, the research indicates the great distance between theory and practice and the importance of understanding the B-L model to be able to keep a critical attitude to the model and its output. The research points towards the need for more research concerning the use of the B-L model taking cultural, social and organizational contexts into account. / QC 20101202

Purpose of the research: The purpose is to forecast the future trend of housing prices in Stockholm County 2011-2014 based on estimated slope coefficients of selected explanatory variables 1993-2010. Thereafter, the obtained forecast will be discussed with respect to other non-quantifiable concepts within behavioral economics. Method: Multiple regression technique with a deductive and explorative approach. Empirical data: Quantitative. Conclusion: The future trend of housing prices in Stockholm County has been forecasted to be positively sloped throughout all the years 2011-2014, but in 2011, the forecast reveals that the increase of house prices will taper off. Nevertheless, behavioral economics reveals some insights about the trend on the housing market and that the house prices might include a portion of abnormal returns. / Syfte: Syftet är att förutse den framtida utvecklingen av bostadspriserna i Stockholms län 2011-2014 baserade på beräknade lutningskoefficienter av valda förklaringsvariabler 1993-2010. Därefter kommer den erhållna prognosen att diskuteras i förhållande till andra icke-kvantifierbara begrepp inom beteendeekonomi. Metod: Multipel regressionsteknik med en deduktiv och explorativ strategi. Empirisk data: Kvantitativ. Slutsats: Den framtida utvecklingen av bostadspriserna i Stockholms län har beräknats ha en positiv lutning inom samtliga år 2011-2014, men under 2011 visar också prognosen att ökningen av huspriserna kommer att avta successivt. Icke desto mindre avslöjar beteendeekonomi vissa insikter om utvecklingen på bostadsmarknaden och att huspriserna kan innehålla en andel abnorm avkastning.

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur utvalda bolags aktieavkastning inom branscherna flyg, fordon samt olja reagerar vid signifikanta oljeprisförändringar. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Den teoretiska referensramen utgörs av den effektiva marknadshypotesen samt Behavioural Finance med undergrenarna prospect theory, herd behaviour och overconfidence. Metod: Studien utgår ifrån ett deduktivt inslag med en kvantitativ studie. Undersökningen utgörs av sex eventstudier som datainsamlingsmetod samt en intervju som applikation på det kvantitativa resultatet. Urvalskriterium består av tio bolag inom respektive bransch med en rangordning utefter högst omsättning samt företag med en koppling till svenskt näringsliv med högst omsättning. Empiri: Empirin presenteras utifrån diagram och tabeller över de utförda eventstudierna. Diagrammen syftar till att redovisa den avvikande avkastningen för respektive bolag. Tabellerna ger en redogörelse över eventuellt samband mellan respektive bransch och oljeprisförändringarna. Slutsats: Flygbolagen uppvisade samband med oljepriset vid fyra utav sex eventen. Fordonsbranschen uppvisade samband vid ett av de sex eventen och oljebranschen vid två utav de studerade eventen. Reaktionen på aktieavkastningen för bolagen med en koppling till svenskt näringsliv var i linje med de övriga internationella bolagen i branschen. Undantag visades för oljebranschen. Resultatet är en indikation på att andra variabler påverkade aktieavkastningen och detta skapar svårigheter för aktieinnehavare att förespå framtida avkastning.

The question many investors ask is whether or not it is possible to beat the market andearn money by being active on the stock market. In efficient markets this should not be possible, but several researches have come up with strategies that prove the opposite. There are certain market movements that cannot be explained by the arguments of the traditional efficient market hypothesis and such market movements are in the standard finance theory called anomalies. Two well-known anomalies are the P/E effect and the small firm effect. The P/E effect means that portfolios with low P/E stocks attain higher average risk-adjusted returns than portfolios with high P/E stocks. Similarly, the small firm effect means that companies with small market capitalization earn higher return than those with large market capitalization. Even though these anomalies were discovered in the US, they occur on other markets as well. However, most of the studies regarding these have focused on developed markets. Therefore, the focus in this study has been on emerging markets, more specifically the Baltic market. The problem we aimed to answer with this study is whether or not it is possible to attain abnormal returns on the Baltic stock market by using the P/E effect or the small firm effect. Further on, we found it interesting to investigate which one of the two anomalies that is the best investment strategy. By doing this, we have also been able examine if the Baltic market is efficient or not. The study investigates all listed firms (both active and dead) with available data on Nasdaq OMX Baltic between the years 2000-2014. There are two different samples, a P/E sample and a market capitalization sample. The firms in the samples are ranked and grouped into portfolios and then tested to see if there is significant evidence of the existence of the P/E effect and the small firm effect. The results of the tests show that the Baltic market is not completely efficient, since statistical support was found for the small firm effect. This implies that it is possible to attain abnormal returns on the Baltic market by investing in small capitalization stocks. However, the tests showed no significant evidence of the P/E effect. For this reason, with the assumptions made, we recommend the small firm effect as an investment strategy on the Baltic stock market.

本篇論文藉由文獻探討與迴歸分析探討法人與散戶的投資偏好與行為的不同而造成的報酬上的差異，本文共收集了54篇探討法人與散戶投資行為和選股偏好的文獻並進行整理，其54篇文獻細分成三個方向探討投資人的投資行為：交易策略、認知與情緒偏誤和訊息內含。由文獻的整理中發現，法人與散戶的投資報酬差異確實與交易策略和選股偏好相關，相較於散戶，法人具有資訊與資源上的優勢，所以他們較能夠在面臨投資和選股決策時，做出正確的決定。然而，散戶在資訊的取得上相較法人處於劣勢，所以在做決策時較為不明確，並且由統計數據來看，散戶的部位通常與法人為相反的，所以散戶通常為法人提供流動性，並且因此得到較差的報酬。 而行為財務學的角度來看，法人和散戶皆有不理性的投資行為，而這些不理性的行為皆會為他們招致較低的投資報酬，而法人有較高的投資報酬率並非因為他們理性，而是因為相較於散戶，法人的不理性程度較為低的原因。既然由行為財務學的觀點來看大家皆是不理性的，便推論法人與散戶的報酬差異是來自選股的偏好，在第四部分以台灣經濟新報658家上市公司的資料進行迴歸分析以探討台灣法人、散戶與外資的選股偏好，結果顯示法人和散戶偏好依據其週轉率、公司規模、本益比、股價波動度與股利殖利率有所不同，而外資法人的偏好則與國內法人類似。 / This paper surveys the literatures relating to the investment preference and performance between institutional and individual investors in order to determine the reason of return disparity. 54 papers are surveyed to understand the preference and performance through three aspects: trading strategies, cognitive and emotional biases, and information content. Disparity of returns is due to trading behaviors and stock preferences. Institutional investors tend to be informed and make correct decision when trading. However, individual investors tend to invest in the opposite direction to institutions and provide liquidity for them. Therefore, institutional investor have better performance due to their less irrational behaviors and correct selection of underlying objects. In the fourth part, using data of 658 listed equities from Taiwan Economic Journal from Taiwan’s stock market, we investigate the relation between investors’ ownership and financial indicators. The regression analysis shows that the stock preferences between individual and institutional investor are different. Results indicate that institutional and individual investors have distinct preferences based on turnover rate, size, price to earnings per share ratio, stock volatility, and dividend yield. Foreign institutions’ stock selection preference is similar to domestic institutions.

Cette thèse applique la théorie des prospects et la théorie du regret à l’étude sur la performance des actions et à expliquer une anomalie du marché connue appelé l’effet momentum. Cette thèse propose un modèle théorique qui lie les facteurs comportementaux à la performance des actions et à l’effet momentum, et ensuite réalise des tests empiriques pour examiner le modèle théorique. Dans le chapitre 2, le modèle est établi sur un concept des gains/pertes potentiels, qui indiquent si un investisseur se trouve actuellement dans une situation gagnante ou perdante. Ensuite, le modèle montre que les investisseurs sont très réticents à vendre leurs stocks dans une situation des grands gains ou des grandes pertes. Les chapitres 3 et 4 effectuent des tests empiriques sur le modèle des gains/pertes potentiels. L'échantillon des tests comprend tous les stocks de NYSE et l'AMEX de l’année 1982 à 2012. Les tests sont en mesure de confirmer l'influence des gains/pertes potentiels sur les rendements des actions. En outre, une stratégie de coût nul d’Extrémité moins Moyen (EMM), basée sur le modèle théorique, est documentée pour être rentable après contrôlée pour des risques. Dans le chapitre 5, le modèle des gains/pertes potentiels est développé dans une version dynamique. Il suggère que l'influence des gains/pertes potentiels pourrait persister pendant une période de intermédiaire à long terme, et génère une tendance à la hausse de la performance pour les actions avec un grand gain/perte potentiel. Les tests empiriques dans ce chapitre se concentrent sur l'évolution de série temporelle des rendements. Les tests montrent que les actions avec un grand gain/perte potentiel ont une plus forte tendance à la hausse. Le chapitre 6 applique les résultats du chapitre précédent pour expliquer l'effet momentum. La tendance à la hausse correspond à une auto-corrélation positive des rendements, ce qui est l'une des sources qui contribuent au profit de momentum. Les tests empiriques dans ce chapitre regardent la similitude entre la stratégie de momentum et les gains/pertes potentiels, et examinent également la corrélation entre le profit de momentum et le profit de la stratégie EMM. Les tests montrent que des gains/pertes potentiels pourraient contribuer à l'effet momentum, mais ne sont pas la seule source. L'effet momentum peut être le résultat d'une combinaison de plusieurs facteurs complexes. / This dissertation applies the prospect theory and the regret theory to the study on the stock performance and to explain one well-known market anomaly called the momentum effect. The dissertation proposes a theoretical model that links the behavior factors to stock performance and the momentum effect, and performed empirical test to examine the theoretical model. In chapter 2, the model is established on the concept of the potential gain/loss, which indicates if an investor is currently at a winning or a losing position. The model then shows that the investors are highly reluctant to sell their stocks in a large gain or in a large loss situation. The chapter 3 and 4 perform empirical tests on the model of potential gain/loss. The test sample includes all stocks in NYSE and AMEX from 1982 to 2012. The tests are able to confirm the influence of the potential gain/loss on stock returns. Moreover, a zero-cost Extremity minus Middle (EMM) strategy based on the theoretical model is documented to be profitable after controlling for risks. In chapter 5, the model of potential gain/loss is developed into a dynamic version. It suggests that the influence of a potential gain/loss could persist over an intermediate to long term, and generates an upward trend in performance for stocks with large potential gain/loss. The empirical tests in this chapter focus on the time serial evolution of returns. The tests show that stocks with large potential gain/loss have a stronger upward trend. The chapter 6 applies the results from the previous chapter to explain the momentum effect. The upward trend corresponds to a positive return autocorrelation, which is one of the sources that contribute to the momentum profit. The empirical tests in this chapter look into the similarity between the momentum strategy and the potential gain/loss, and also examine the correlation between the momentum profit and the profit from the EMM strategy. Tests show that the potential gain/loss could contribute to the momentum effect, but is not the only source. The momentum effect could be a result of a combination of many complex factors.

Au cours de la dernière décennie, les chercheurs se sont intéressés au comportement de l'investisseur sur les marchés boursiers. Nombreuses théories en psychologie et sociologie sont mobilisées en finance comportementale pour dépasser les limites de l'hypothèse de l’efficience des marchés et expliquer la fragilité des marchés financiers. En analysant le comportement grégaire (mimétisme), les chercheurs tentent d'expliquer les anomalies et les grands mouvements du marché. Le comportement grégaire peut être décrit comme la tendance d'un investisseur ou d’un groupe d'investisseurs, à imiter les actions des autres acteurs du marché, ou à suivre la tendance du marché. Notre première étude examine la présence du comportement grégaire, en se concentrant sur le marché boursier français, au niveau du marché et au niveau des secteurs. Nous étudions le mimétisme selon différentes conditions macroéconomiques. Nous testons aussi l'existence du mimétisme au cours de la dernière période de crise financière et pendant les périodes caractérisées par des volumes (élevés ou faibles) de volatilité et de volume de transaction. En utilisant le modèle de CH 95, nous ne détectons pas de comportement grégaire, à la fois au niveau du marché qu’au niveau des secteurs, pendant les mouvements de marché extrêmes. Les modèles de CCK 2000 et Hwang et Salmon 2004 montrent des résultats mitigés. Même lorsque le comportement grégaire est détecté au niveau du marché, les secteurs se comportent différemment. La mesure que nous extrayons du state-space model montre différents niveaux de mimétisme dans les secteurs. La deuxième étude examine le mimétisme, sur les marchés boursiers américains et chinois, en introduisant une nouvelle dimension : l'asymétrie d'information. Nous utilisons plusieurs mesures de la disponibilité de l'information : la politique de dividende, le bid-ask spread, la taille de l'entreprise, la sophistication du marché, ainsi que l'état du marché (pré, post et pendant la période de crise). Cette étude nous permet d’analyser le mimétisme dans différents contextes selon la disponibilité de l'information. Elle permet de vérifier si le mimétisme est plus prononcé dans un contexte d'asymétrie d'information élevée. D’une part, les résultats du modèle de CH 95 ne montrent aucune preuve de mimétisme quel que soit le niveau d'asymétrie d'information entre les entreprises et les investisseurs, à la fois pour les marchés américain et chinois. D'autre part, le modèle CCK 2000 détecte des différences de niveau de mimétisme dans le marché boursier chinois en fonction du niveau d'asymétrie d'information. Les résultats suggèrent que les marchés émergents sont touchés par le mimétisme pendant la période de crise, quelle que soit la taille de l'entreprise. Enfin, le modèle de Hwang et Salmon 2004 montre différents niveaux de mimétisme dans les marchés américain et chinois, en fonction du niveau d'asymétrie d'information. Il est intéressant pour la recherche sur la modélisation des marchés boursiers d’examiner le comportement grégaire des investisseurs. De la même façon, les décideurs politiques pourraient être intéressés par les effets perturbateurs potentiels du mimétisme sur les marchés financiers. / Over the last decade, the academic research has highly focused on examining the investor’s behavior in stock markets. Many theories in psychology and sociology are used in the so called “Behavioral Finance” in order to explain the limits of the efficient market hypothesis and the financial market fragility. By analyzing the herding behavior, the researchers try to explain the market anomalies and the large market movements. Herding behavior can be described as the tendency of an investor, or a group of investors, to imitate the actions of other market participants, or to follow the market movement. Our first study examines the presence of herding behavior, focusing on the French stock market, at both market and sector levels. We investigate herding during different macroeconomic conditions. We also test the existence of herding during the last financial crisis period, and during the periods characterized by high or low volatility and transaction volumes. Using the CH 95 model, we do not observe herding behavior, both in market and sector levels, during extreme market movements. The CCK 2000 and Hwang and Salmon 2004 models show mixed results. Even when herding exists in the market level, various sectors behave differently. The measure we extract from the state-space model shows different patterns of herding at the sector level. The second study examines the investors’ incentives behind herding, in the US and Chinese stock markets, by introducing a new dimension, which is the information asymmetry. Using several proxies for information availability, such as dividend policy, bid ask spread, firm size and market sophistication along with considering the market condition (pre, post and during crisis period), this study allows us to investigate herding in different contexts of information availability, and to examine if herding is more pronounced in a high information asymmetry context. Findings of CH 95 model show no evidence of herding regardless of the level of information asymmetry between firms and investors in both the US and Chinese stock markets. On the other hand, the CCK 2000 model detects herding differences in the Chinese stock market depending on the information asymmetry level. The findings suggest that the emerging markets are affected by herding during the crisis period, regardless of the firm size. Finally, the Hwang and Salmon 2004 model shows different herding patterns in the US and Chinese stock markets depending on the information asymmetry level. Examining the herding behavior is interesting for the research in the market modeling field along with policymakers who may be interested in investigating the potential disturbing effects of herding on stock markets.