Liquidity characteristics of market anomalies and institutional trading

Abstract

We find that market anomalies exhibit heterogeneous liquidity characteristics — long–short portfolios based on long-horizon (short-horizon) anomalies have liquidity-provision (liquidity-demanding) characteristics. Consistent with such liquidity characteristics, institutional investors tend to trade in the wrong (right) direction of long-horizon (short-horizon) anomalies. Further analysis shows that exogenous liquidity factors and institutional liquidity preferences have causal effects on the observed institutional trading patterns. Finally, despite the perception that liquidity improves market efficiency, we find that liquidity can exacerbate the magnitude of anomalies through its influence on institutional trading.