Idiosyncratic volatility, option-based measures of informed trading, and investor attention

Hannes Mohrschladt () and Judith C. Schneider ()
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Hannes Mohrschladt: University of Münster
Judith C. Schneider: Leuphana University Lüneburg

Review of Derivatives Research, 2021, vol. 24, issue 3, No 1, 197-220

Abstract: Abstract We establish a direct link between sophisticated investors in the option market, private stock market investors, and the idiosyncratic volatility (IVol) puzzle. To do so, we employ three option-based volatility spreads and attention data from Google Trends. In line with the IVol puzzle, the volatility spreads indicate that sophisticated investors indeed consider high-IVol stocks as being overvalued. Moreover, the option measures help to distinguish overpriced from fairly priced high-IVol stocks. Thus, these measures are able to predict the IVol puzzle’s magnitude in the cross-section of stock returns. Further, we link the origin of the IVol puzzle to the trading activity of irrational private investors as the return predictability only exists among stocks that receive a high level of private investor attention. Overall, our joint examination of option and stock markets sheds light on the behavior of different investor groups and their contribution to the IVol puzzle. Thereby, our analyses support the intuitive idea that noise trading leads to mispricing, which is identified by sophisticated investors and exploited in the option market.

Keywords: Idiosyncratic volatility puzzle; Option-implied volatility spreads; Investor attention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G12 G14 G40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11147-021-09175-7

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