Does Partisanship Shape Investor Beliefs?

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY
Finance Department
Research Seminars in Finance

Topic: Does Partisanship Shape Investor Beliefs? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Speaker: Tony Cookson, University of Colorado at Boulder

Abstract: We use party-identifying language – like “Liberal Media” and “MAGA”– to identify Republican users on the investor social platform StockTwits. Using a difference-in-difference design, we find that the beliefs of partisan Republicans about equities remain relatively unfazed during the COVID-19 pandemic, while other users become considerably more pessimistic. In cross-sectional tests, we find Republicans become relatively more optimistic about stocks that suffered the most from COVID-19, but more pessimistic about Chinese stocks. Finally, stocks with the greatest partisan disagreement on StockTwits have significantly more trading in the broader market, which explains 20% of the increase in stock turnover during the pandemic.

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Moderator: Diego Puente Moncayo, University of Technology Sydney

Date: Wednesday, 29th July 2020
Time: 9.00 – 10.00 a.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Venue: This is on online Zoom webinar.

Seminar protocols:

• The webinar will run for 45 minutes, followed by a 15 minute Q&A session.
• There will be a moderator for each seminar event, who will facilitate communication and resolve any technical issues.
• Participants can use the Q&A facility to ask questions during the presentation. The moderator will then alert the speaker and ask the questions raised.

Co-ordinator: Harry Scheule

Enquiries: Duncan Ford