WSU Carson College of Business professor George Jiang’s study on COVID-19 investor behavior was recently published in the Pacific-Basin Finance Journal.
The study was co-authored by WSU doctoral student Xiaoli Ma and former doctoral student Yun Ma, who is now an associate professor at Wenzhou-Kean University in China.
The study found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate insiders bought more stocks at the start and sold them when the market improved.
Their activity predicted stock performance in the year following the pandemic. When insiders bought stock, it performed better, and when they sold, it performed worse.
The pandemic provided an opportunity for researchers to see how insiders act in uncertain times. Jiang was surprised to see that insider trading had increased during this time. These trends can be used by investors to navigate through unpredictable markets.
