Abstract
The small-cap effect is the tendency of small companies to beat large companies in the stock market. The authors present a comprehensive review of the theoretical background and empirical evidence, explaining the size premium by delisting bias, trading costs, information risk, liquidity risk and data mining.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aksu, M. H., & Onder, T. (2003). The size and book-to-market effects and their role as risk proxies in the Istanbul Stock Exchange. EFMA 2000 Athens; Koc University, Graduate School of Business, Working Paper No. 2000-04. Retrieved October 30, 2015, from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=250919 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.250919
Amihud, Y. (2002). Illiquidity and stock returns: Cross-section and time-series effects. Journal of Financial Markets, 5, 31–56.
Amihud, Y., & Mendelson, H. (1986). Asset pricing and the bid–ask spread. Journal of Financial Economics, 17, 223–249.
Amihud, Y., Mendelson, H., & Pedersen, L. H. (2005). Liquidity and asset prices. Foundations and Trends in Finance, 1(4), 269–364.
Banz, R. W. (1981). The relationship between return and market value of common stocks. Journal of Financial Economics, 9, 3–18.
Barry, C., Goldreyer, E., Lockwood, L., & Rodriguez, M. (2002). Robustness of size and value effects in emerging equity markets, 1985–2000. Emerging Markets Review, 3, 1–30.
Beedles, W. L. (1992). Small firm equity cost: Evidence from Australia. Journal of Small Business Management, 57, 65.
Brennan, M. J., Chordia, T., & Subrahmanyam, A. (1998). Alternative factor specifications, security characteristics, and the cross-section of expected stock returns. Journal of Financial Economics, 49, 345–373.
Brown, P., Kleidon, A. W., & Marsh, T. A. (1983). New evidence on the nature of size related anomalies in stock prices. Journal of Financial Economics, 12, 33–56.
Carhart, M. M. (1997). On persistence in mutual fund performance. Journal of Finance, 52(1), 57–82.
Chan, L. K. C., Hamao, Y., & Lakonishok, J. (1991). Fundamentals and stock returns in Japan. Journal of Finance, 46, 1739–1764.
Chan, L. K. C., Karceski, J., & Lakonishok, J. (2000b). New paradigm or same old hype in equity investing? Financial Analysts Journal, 56(4), 23–36.
Chen, L., Lesmond, D. A., & Wei, J. (2007). Corporate yield spreads and bond liquidity. Journal of Finance, 62(1), 119–149.
Coghlan, H. (1988). Small firms versus large on the Irish stock exchange: An analysis of the performances. Irish Business and Administrative Research, 9, 10–20.
Damodaran, A. (2012b). Investment valuation: Tools and techniques for determining the value of any asset. 3rd edition. New York: Wiley.
Datar, V., Naik, N., & Radcliffe, R. (1998). Liquidity and stock returns: An alternative test. Journal of Financial Markets, 1, 203–220.
de Jong, F., & Driessen, J. (2012). Liquidity premia in corporate bond markets. Quarterly Journal of Finance, 2(2).
De Moor, L., & Sercu, P. (2013a). The smallest firm effect: An international study. Journal of International Money and Finance, 32, 129–155.
De Moor, L., & Sercu, P. (2013b). The smallest stocks are not just smaller: Global evidence. European Journal of Finance, 21(2), 51–70.
Dichev, I. D. (1998). Is the risk of bankruptcy a systematic risk? Journal of Finance, 53(3), 1131–1147.
Dimson, E., & Marsh, P. (1999). Murphy’s law and market anomalies. Journal of Portfolio Management, 25(2), 53–69.
Dimson, E., Marsh, P., & Staunton, M. (2002). Triumph of the optimists: 101 years of global investment returns. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Doeswijk, R. Q. (1997). Contrarian investment in the Dutch stock market. De Economist, 145, 198–573.
Domowitz, I., Glen, J., & Madhavan, A. (2002). Liquidity, volatility and equity trading costs across countries and over time. International Finance, 4(2), 221–255.
Drew, M. E., Naughton, T., & Veeraraghavan, M. (2003). Firm size, book-to-market equity and security returns: Evidence from the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Australian Journal of Management, 28(2), 119–139.
Easley, D., Hvidkjaer, S., & O’Hara, M. (2002). Is information risk a determinant of asset returns? Journal of Finance, 57, 2185–2221.
Easterday, K. E., Sen, P. K., & Stephan, J. A. (2009). The persistence of the small firm/January effect: Is it consistent with investors’ learning and arbitrage efforts? Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 49(3), 1172–1193.
Eleswarapu, V. R., & Reinganum, M. R. (1993). The seasonal behavior of the liquidity premium in asset pricing. Journal of Financial Economics, 34(3), 373–386.
Elfakhani, S., Lockwood, L. J., & Zaher, T. S. (1998). Small firm and value effects in the Canadian Stock Market. Journal of Financial Research, 21, 277–292.
Fama, E. F., & French, K. R. (1993). Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds. Journal of Financial Economics, 33, 3–56.
Fama, E. F., & French, K. R. (2008). Dissecting anomalies. Journal of Finance, 63(4), 1653–1678.
Fama, E. F., & French, K. R. (2012). Size, value, and momentum in international stock returns. Journal of Financial Economics, 105(3), 457–472.
Fortin, R., & Roth, G. (2007). Analyst coverage of small cap firms in a period of brokerage firm retrenchment. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 5(12), 61–68.
Franzoni, F., Nowak, E., & Phalippou, L. (2012). Private equity performance and liquidity risk. Journal of Finance, 67(6), 2341–2373.
Ghysels, E., & Cherkaoui, M. (1999). Emerging markets and trading costs. CIRANO Scientific Series working paper 99s-04. Retrieved November 1, 2015, from http://www.cirano.qc.ca/pdf/publication/99s-04.pdf
Goyenko, R., Subrahmanyam, A., & Ukhov, A. (2011). The term structure and bond market liquidity and its implications for expected bond returns. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 46(1), 111–139.
Handa, P., Kothari, S. P., & Wasley, C. (1989). The relation between the return interval and betas: Implications for the size effect. Journal of Financial Economics, 23, 79–100.
Hawawini, G., Michel, P., & Corhay, A. (1989). A look at the validity of the CAPM in light of equity market anomalies: The case of Belgian common stocks. In S. Taylor (Ed.), A Reappraisal of the Efficiency of Financial Markets. NATO ASI Series. Springer Verlag.
Herrera, M. J., & Lockwood, L. J. (1994). The size effect in the Mexican stock market. Journal of Banking and Finance, 18, 621–632.
Hong, H., Lim, T., & Stein, J. C. (2000). Bad news travels slowly: Size, analyst coverage, and the profitability of momentum strategies. Journal of Finance, 55(1), 265–295.
Horowitz, J. L., Loughran, T., & Savin, N. E. (2000a). The disappearing size effect. Research in Economics, 54(1), 83–100.
Horowitz, J. L., Loughran, T., & Savin, N. E. (2000b). Three analyses of the firm size premium. Journal of Empirical Finance, 7(2), 143–153.
Hou, K., Karolyi, G. A., & Kho, B. C. (2011). What factors drive global stock returns? Review of Financial Studies, 24(8), 2527–2574.
Kalesnik, V., & Beck, N. (2014). Busting the myth about size. Research Affiliates: Simply Stated research paper Retrieved November 1, 2015, from https://www.researchaffiliates.com/Production%20content%20library/Busting%20the%20Myth%20About%20Size.pdf
Kapadia, N., & Pu, X. (2012). Limited arbitrage between equity and credit markets. Journal of Financial Economics, 105(3), 542–564.
Karolyi, G. A., & Wu, Y. (2012). The role of investability restrictions on size, value, and momentum in international stock returns. Working paper. Retrieved October 31, 2015, from http://www.lse.ac.uk/fmg/events/capitalMarket/pdf/CMW62A_Karolyi.pdf
Keppler, M., & Encinosa, P. (2011). The small-country effect revisited. Journal of Investing, 20(4), 99–103.
Keppler, M., & Traub, H. D. (1993). The small-country effect: Small markets beat large markets. Journal of Investing, 2(3), 17–24.
Lamoureux, C. G., & Sanger, G. C. (1989). Firm size and turn-of-the-year effects in the OTC/NASDAQ market. Journal of Finance, 44, 1219–1245.
Levis, M. (1985). Are small firms big performers? Investment Analyst, 76, 21–27.
Lo, A. W., & MacKinlay, A. C. (1990). Data-snooping biases in tests of financial asset pricing models. Review of FInancial Studies, 3(3), 431–467.
MacKinlay, A. C. (1995). Multifactor models do not explain deviations from the CAPM. Journal of Financial Economics, 38(1), 3–28.
Michou, M., Mouselli, S., & Stark, A. W. (2010). Fundamental analysis and the modelling of normal returns in the UK. Retrieved November 2, 2015 from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1607759 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1607759
Musto, D., Nini, G., Schwarz, K. (2015). Notes on bonds: Liquidity at all costs in the great recession. Working paper. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://finance.wharton.upenn.edu/~kschwarz/Treasuries.pdf
Pradhuman, S. D. (2000). Small-cap dynamics: Insights, analysis, and models. Princeton, NJ: Bloomberg Press.
Qian, W., & Liu, P. (2012). Does (and what) illiquidity matter for real estate prices? Measure and evidence. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1988837 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1988837
Roll, R. (1983). Vas ist das? The turn of the year effect and the return premia of small firm. Journal of Portfolio Management, 9(2), 18–28.
Roll, R. (2003). Style return differentials: Illusions, risk premiums, or investment opportunities. In T. D. Coggin & F. J. Fabozzi (Eds.), The handbook of equity style management. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Rozeff, M. S., & Kinney, W. R. (1976). Capital market seasonality: The case of stock returns. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 379–402.
Shumway, T. (1997). The delisting bias in CRSP data. Journal of Finance, 51(1), 327–340.
Shumway, T., & Warther, V. A. (1999). The delisting bias in CRSP’s Nasdaq data and its implications for the size effect. Journal of Finance, 54(6), 2361–2379.
Silva, A. C., & Chaves, G. (2004). Trading costs for emerging market stocks. IE Working Paper DF8-108-1. Retrieved November 1, 2015, from http://latienda.ie.edu/working_papers_economia/WP04-04.pdf
Stehle, R. (1997). Der Size-Effekt am Deutschen Aktienmarkt. Zeitschrift für Bankrecht und Bankwirtschaft, 9, 237–260.
Stoll, H. R., & Whaley, R. E. (1983). Transaction costs and the small firm effect. Journal of Financial Economics, 12, 57–79.
van Dijk, M. A. (2011). Is size dead? A review of the size effect in equity returns. Journal of Banking & Finance, 35, 3263–3274.
van Holle, F., Annaert, J., Crombez, J., & Spinel, B. (2002). Value and size effects: Now you see it, now you don’t. EFA 2002 Berlin Meetings Discussion Paper. Retrieved November 1, 2015, from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=302653
Wahlroos, B., & Berglund, T. (1986). Anomalies and equilibrium returns in a small stock market. Journal of Business Research, 14, 423–440.
Zaremba, A. (2015a). The January seasonality and the performance of country-level value and momentum strategies. Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting, 4(2), 195–209.
Zaremba, A. (2015b). Country selection strategies based on value, size and momentum. Investment Analyst Journal, 44(3), 171–198.
Zaremba, A. (2015c). Value, size, momentum, and unique role of microcaps in CEE market stock returns. Eastern European Economics, 53(3), 221–241.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zaremba, A., Shemer, J. (2017). Is Small Beautiful? Size Effect in Stock Markets. In: Country Asset Allocation. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59191-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59191-3_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59190-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59191-3
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)