 Information acquisition and expected returns: Evidence from EDGAR search trafficFrank Weikai Li and Chengzhu Sun Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 2022, vol. 141, issue C Abstract: Using a novel dataset containing investors’ access of company filings through the SEC’s EDGAR system, we show that the abnormal number of IPs searching for firms’ financial statements strongly predicts future stock returns and firm fundamentals. A long-short portfolio based on our measure of information acquisition activity generates a monthly abnormal return of 80 basis points that is not reversed in the long-run. Consistent with theories of endogenous information acquisition, the return predictability is more pronounced for firms with larger and lengthier financial filings that are more costly to process, and for IPs searching current and historical filings simultaneously. Our findings suggest investors’ costly information acquisition activities reveal their private expectation of firm value. Keywords: Endogenous information acquisition; EDGAR search; SEC filings (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:141:y:2022:i:c:s0165188922000884 DOI: 10.1016/j.jedc.2022.104384 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control is currently edited by J. Bullard, C. Chiarella, H. Dawid, C. H. Hommes, P. Klein and C. Otrok More articles in Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.