[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/18445.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Social Media and Stock Market Participation

Author

Listed:
  • Müller, Karsten
  • Pan, Yuanyuan
  • Schwarz, Carlo
Abstract
We investigate the effect of social media adoption on stock market participation in the United States. Using plausibly exogenous variation in the early adoption of Twitter across counties, we show that a 10% increase in social media usage is associated with a 2.5% higher rate of stock ownership and an overall increase in stock market wealth. Consistent with the notion of social media as an information channel, we find greater effects in counties with lower levels of pre-existing stock market knowledge and a decline in the number of financial advisors. Twitter adoption also fuels interest in "meme stocks," which tend to be more volatile and owned by retail investors. Overall, our results suggest a substantial impact of modern information technology on financial markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Müller, Karsten & Pan, Yuanyuan & Schwarz, Carlo, 2023. "Social Media and Stock Market Participation," CEPR Discussion Papers 18445, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:18445
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP18445
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Briggs, Joseph & Cesarini, David & Lindqvist, Erik & Östling, Robert, 2021. "Windfall gains and stock market participation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(1), pages 57-83.
    2. Choi, James J. & Laibson, David & Metrick, Andrew, 2002. "How does the Internet affect trading? Evidence from investor behavior in 401(k) plans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 397-421, June.
    3. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2008. "Trusting the Stock Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2557-2600, December.
    4. van Rooij, Maarten & Lusardi, Annamaria & Alessie, Rob, 2011. "Financial literacy and stock market participation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 449-472, August.
    5. Shawn Cole & Anna Paulson & Gauri Kartini Shastry, 2014. "Smart Money? The Effect of Education on Financial Outcomes," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(7), pages 2022-2051.
    6. Joshua D. Coval & Tyler Shumway, 2005. "Do Behavioral Biases Affect Prices?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 1-34, February.
    7. Kaustia, Markku & Knüpfer, Samuli, 2012. "Peer performance and stock market entry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 321-338.
    8. Zhi Da & Joseph Engelberg & Pengjie Gao, 2011. "In Search of Attention," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1461-1499, October.
    9. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2000. "Trading Is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 773-806, April.
    10. Cookson, J. Anthony, 2018. "When saving is gambling," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(1), pages 24-45.
    11. Gabriel Chodorow-Reich & Plamen T. Nenov & Alp Simsek, 2021. "Stock Market Wealth and the Real Economy: A Local Labor Market Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1613-1657, May.
    12. Haliassos, Michael & Bertaut, Carol C, 1995. "Why Do So Few Hold Stocks?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(432), pages 1110-1129, September.
    13. Bikhchandani, Sushil & Hirshleifer, David & Welch, Ivo, 1992. "A Theory of Fads, Fashion, Custom, and Cultural Change in Informational Cascades," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 992-1026, October.
    14. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:1:p:137-163 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Peter M. DeMarzo & Dimitri Vayanos & Jeffrey Zwiebel, 2003. "Persuasion Bias, Social Influence, and Unidimensional Opinions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 909-968.
    16. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:5:p:1775-1798 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Bogan, Vicki, 2008. "Stock Market Participation and the Internet," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 191-211, March.
    18. Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2023. "From Hashtag to Hate Crime: Twitter and Antiminority Sentiment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 270-312, July.
    19. Cookson, J. Anthony & Niessner, Marina & Schiller, Christoph M., 2022. "Can Social Media Inform Corporate Decisions? Evidence from Merger Withdrawals," SocArXiv 56yrj, Center for Open Science.
    20. Xueming Luo & Jie Zhang & Wenjing Duan, 2013. "Social Media and Firm Equity Value," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 146-163, March.
    21. Pedersen, Lasse Heje, 2022. "Game on: Social networks and markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(3), pages 1097-1119.
    22. Jeffrey R. Brown & Zoran Ivković & Paul A. Smith & Scott Weisbenner, 2008. "Neighbors Matter: Causal Community Effects and Stock Market Participation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1509-1531, June.
    23. Guiso, Luigi & Sodini, Paolo, 2013. "Household Finance: An Emerging Field," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1397-1532, Elsevier.
    24. Ruben Enikolopov & Alexey Makarin & Maria Petrova, 2020. "Social Media and Protest Participation: Evidence From Russia," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1479-1514, July.
    25. Ben Charoenwong & Alan Kwan & Tarik Umar, 2019. "Does Regulatory Jurisdiction Affect the Quality of Investment-Adviser Regulation?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(10), pages 3681-3712, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco Gomes & Michael Haliassos & Tarun Ramadorai, 2021. "Household Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 919-1000, September.
    2. Kaustia, Markku & Conlin, Andrew & Luotonen, Niilo, 2023. "What drives stock market participation? The role of institutional, traditional, and behavioral factors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    3. Dieci, Roberto & Schmitt, Noemi & Westerhoff, Frank H., 2022. "Boom-bust cycles and asset market participation waves: Momentum, value, risk and herding," BERG Working Paper Series 177, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    4. Barnea, Amir & Cronqvist, Henrik & Siegel, Stephan, 2010. "Nature or nurture: What determines investor behavior?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 583-604, December.
    5. Korniotis, George & Bonaparte, Yosef & Kumar, Alok, 2020. "Income Risk and Stock Market Entry/Exit Decisions," CEPR Discussion Papers 15370, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Ya-Fang Cheng & Eugene Burgos Mutuc & Fu-Sheng Tsai & Kun-Hwa Lu & Chien-Ho Lin, 2018. "Social Capital and Stock Market Participation via Technologies: The Role of Households’ Risk Attitude and Cognitive Ability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-14, June.
    7. Wang, Yi & Niu, Geng & Zhou, Yang & Lu, Weijie, 2023. "Broadband internet and stock market participation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Tsang, Albert & Yu, Li, 2023. "Socially responsible local firms and stock market participation: Evidence from the U.S. household survey," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    9. Hong, Claire Yurong & Lu, Xiaomeng & Pan, Jun, 2021. "FinTech adoption and household risk-taking," BOFIT Discussion Papers 14/2021, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    10. Baker, Scott R. & Johnson, Stephanie & Kueng, Lorenz, 2024. "Financial returns to household inventory management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. repec:zbw:bofitp:2021_014 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Lehtoranta, Antti, 2014. "Childhood experience of father's job loss and stock market participation," Research Discussion Papers 30/2014, Bank of Finland.
    13. Hans K. Hvide & Tom G. Meling & Magne Mogstad & Ola L. Vestad, 2024. "Broadband Internet and the Stock Market Investments of Individual Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(3), pages 2163-2194, June.
    14. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2014_030 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Li, Qize & Brounen, Dirk & Li, Jianjun & Wei, Xu, 2022. "Social interactions and Chinese households’ participation in the risky financial market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    16. Niu, Geng & Wang, Qi & Li, Han & Zhou, Yang, 2020. "Number of brothers, risk sharing, and stock market participation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    17. Lehtoranta, Antti, 2014. "Childhood experience of father's job loss and stock market participation," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 30/2014, Bank of Finland.
    18. Lorenz Meister & Karla Schulze, 2022. "How Shocks Affect Stock Market Participation," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 142, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    19. Meister, Lorenz & Menkhoff, Lukas & Schröder, Carsten, 2024. "Work from Home, Stock Market Participation, and Inequality," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302335, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    20. Christophe Desagre & Catherine D'Hondt, 2020. "Googlization and retail investors' trading activity," LIDAM Discussion Papers LFIN 2020004, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    21. Escobar, Laura & Pedraza, Alvaro, 2023. "Active trading and (poor) performance: The social transmission channel," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(1), pages 139-165.
    22. Hong, Claire Yurong & Lu, Xiaomeng & Pan, Jun, 2021. "FinTech adoption and household risk-taking," BOFIT Discussion Papers 14/2021, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social media; Stock market participation;

    JEL classification:

    • G5 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:18445. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.