Liquidity shock and stock returns in the Japanese equity market

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between liquidity shocks and stock returns in the Japanese equity market. As in the US equity market, we observe an irrational phenomenon: Stocks with positive liquidity shocks have higher future returns than stocks with negative liquidity shocks. This phenomenon may be caused by an underreaction to liquidity shocks. We show that illiquidity strongly contributes to this underreaction, unlike the US equity market. Additionally, we uncover new facts that were not previously known. We show that liquidity shocks caused by bad news is more quickly priced than those caused by good news. We also find that pricing on liquidity shocks in the cross-section may be affected by time-varying market liquidity shocks.