No abstract

Counter to extant stylized facts, using newly available data on country allocations in US investors' foreign equity portfolios we find that (i) US investors do not exhibit returns-chasing behavior, but, consistent with partial portfolio rebalancing, tend to sell past winners; and (ii) US investors increase portfolio weights on a country's equity market just prior to its strong performance, behavior inconsistent with an informational disadvantage. Over the past two decades, US investors' foreign equity portfolios outperformed a value-weighted foreign benchmark by 160 basis points per year. (JEL: C58, G11, G15)

This article examines the possibility of a ripple effect being present in the UK housing market using a previously unconsidered two-stage procedure. According to Drake, the ripple effect hypothesises that changes in house prices occurs earlier and more extensively in the South East of England than in other regions of the UK. Via application of non-parametric testing and business cycle dating techniques, evidence in favour of a ripple effect is derived.