Trade synchronization and social ties in stock markets

Abstract

Previous studies suggest that individuals sharing similar characteristics establish stronger social relationships. This motivates us to examine what combinations of socioeconomic investor attributes are more likely to be associated with joint trading behavior. We use a unique data set on actual social ties between investors and find that similarities in investors’ age, geographical location, or length of the co-employment can affect trade synchronization under certain circumstances. Our findings have implications for the analysis of investor networks.