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The Diminishing Liquidity Premium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2015

Azi Ben-Rephael
Affiliation:
abenreph@indiana.edu, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Bloomington, IN 47405
Ohad Kadan
Affiliation:
kadan@wustl.edu, Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School, St. Louis, MO 63130
Avi Wohl*
Affiliation:
aviwohl@post.tau.ac.il, Tel Aviv University, Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
*
*Corresponding author: aviwohl@post.tau.ac.il

Abstract

Stock liquidity has improved over the recent 4 decades. This improvement was accompanied by a dramatic increase in trading activity. The net effect on the liquidity premium is ambiguous. We show that the characteristic liquidity premium of U.S. stocks has significantly declined over the past 4 decades. In recent years, characteristic liquidity is significantly priced only for the smallest common stocks. This decline stems from an improvement in liquidity and from a lower sensitivity of expected returns to liquidity. By contrast, systematic liquidity has not been trending down and is still significantly priced primarily among NASDAQ stocks.

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington 2015 

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