Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6937
pubmed:dateCreated
2003-5-15
pubmed:abstractText
Insights into the dynamics of a complex system are often gained by focusing on large fluctuations. For the financial system, huge databases now exist that facilitate the analysis of large fluctuations and the characterization of their statistical behaviour. Power laws appear to describe histograms of relevant financial fluctuations, such as fluctuations in stock price, trading volume and the number of trades. Surprisingly, the exponents that characterize these power laws are similar for different types and sizes of markets, for different market trends and even for different countries--suggesting that a generic theoretical basis may underlie these phenomena. Here we propose a model, based on a plausible set of assumptions, which provides an explanation for these empirical power laws. Our model is based on the hypothesis that large movements in stock market activity arise from the trades of large participants. Starting from an empirical characterization of the size distribution of those large market participants (mutual funds), we show that the power laws observed in financial data arise when the trading behaviour is performed in an optimal way. Our model additionally explains certain striking empirical regularities that describe the relationship between large fluctuations in prices, trading volume and the number of trades.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:status
PubMed-not-MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0028-0836
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
15
pubmed:volume
423
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
267-70
pubmed:dateRevised
2003-11-4
pubmed:year
2003
pubmed:articleTitle
A theory of power-law distributions in financial market fluctuations.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA. xgabaix@mit.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article