A note on the technology herd: evidence from large institutional investors
ISSN: 1940-5979
Article publication date: 19 June 2019
Issue publication date: 8 August 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine intentional herding among institutional investors with a particular focus on the technology sector that was the driver of the “New Economy” in the USA during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data on technology stockholdings of 115 large institutional investors, the authors test the presence of herding by examining linear dependence and feedback between individual investors’ technology stockholdings and that of the aggregate market. Unlike other models to detect herding, the authors use Geweke (1982) type causality tests that allow authors to disentangle spurious herding from intentional herding via tests of bidirectional and instantaneous causality across portfolio positions in technology stocks.
Findings
After controlling information-based (spurious) herding, the tests show that 38 percent of large institutional investors tend to intentionally herd in technology stocks.
Originality/value
The findings support the existing literature that investment decisions by large institutional investors are not only driven by fundamental information, but also by cognitive bias that is characterized by intentional herding.
Keywords
Citation
Uwilingiye, J., Cakan, E., Demirer, R. and Gupta, R. (2019), "A note on the technology herd: evidence from large institutional investors", Review of Behavioral Finance, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 294-308. https://doi.org/10.1108/RBF-08-2017-0086
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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