Blog - Investing Notes
March 18, 2005 – A (Research) Fishing Pole
We sometimes review and summarize recent academic papers of potential interest to investors. For those who prefer getting a fishing pole rather than an occasional fish, here is one way to monitor the relevant output of academia:
The Social Science Research Network makes available a searchable database of economics research abstracts. The database classification list presents the topics covered. Some specific topic areas of interest to investors are:
- G1 - General Financial Markets
- G11 - Portfolio Choice
- G12 - Asset Pricing
- G14 - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies
Depending on your interests, other topics may appeal.
Most of the abstracts posted offer free download of the full paper in PDF format. Occasionally, downloading the paper requires payment of a fee (we skip these papers or try other sources for download). In rare cases, the full paper is unavailable.
Once you catch a fish, you have to clean it - that can be messy. These papers come from prestigious institutions, but not the boardroom school of 5-minute presentations. They are typically 40-50 pages long, with lots of historical background and formulas. Figures and tables are usually at the end of the paper rather than contextually embedded, and the authors design them for academic referees rather than investors and traders.
In summary, current academic research relevant to investing and trading is web-accessible, if not always readily intelligible. We plan to keep fishing (and cleaning) here.
