How Much Does Size Erode Mutual Fund Performance? A Regression Discontinuity Approach

Jonathan Reuter and Eric Zitzewitz

No 16329, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The level of diseconomies of scale in asset management has important implications for tests of manager skill and the expected level of performance persistence. To identify the causal impact of fund size on future returns, we exploit the fact that small differences in returns can cause discrete changes in Morningstar ratings that, in turn, generate discrete differences in size. Despite robust evidence that Morningstar ratings increase fund size, our regression discontinuity estimates yield little evidence that fund size erodes returns. Consequently, any downward bias in standard estimates of performance persistence due to diseconomies of scale is likely to be small.

JEL-codes: G14 G23 G24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-09
Note: AG AP
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

Published as Jonathan Reuter & Eric Zitzewitz, 2021. "How Much Does Size Erode Mutual Fund Performance? A Regression Discontinuity Approach," Review of Finance, vol 25(5), pages 1395-1432.

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Journal Article: How Much Does Size Erode Mutual Fund Performance? A Regression Discontinuity Approach* (2021)
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