An Analysis of the Amihud Illiquidity Premium

63 Pages Posted: 8 Jun 2011 Last revised: 4 Apr 2012

See all articles by Michael J. Brennan

Michael J. Brennan

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Finance Area

Sahn-Wook Huh

State University of New York (SUNY) - Department of Finance

Avanidhar Subrahmanyam

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Finance Area; Financial Research Network (FIRN)

Date Written: June 7, 2011

Abstract

This paper analyzes the Amihud (2002) measure of illiquidity and its role in asset pricing. It is shown first that the effect of illiquidity on asset pricing is clarified by using the turnover version of the Amihud measure and including firm size as a separate variable. When we decompose the Amihud measure into elements that correspond to positive (up) and negative (down) return days, we find that in general, only the down-day element commands a return premium. Further analysis of the up and down-day elements using order flows shows that a sidedness variable, which captures the tendency for orders to cluster on the sell side on down days, is associated with a more significant return premium than the other components of the Amihud measure.

Suggested Citation

Brennan, Michael John and Huh, Sahn-Wook and Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, An Analysis of the Amihud Illiquidity Premium (June 7, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1859632 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1859632

Michael John Brennan

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Finance Area ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States
310-825 3587 (Phone)
310-206 8419 (Fax)

Sahn-Wook Huh

State University of New York (SUNY) - Department of Finance ( email )

347 Jacobs Management Center
Buffalo, 14260-4000
United States
716-645-5435 (Phone)
716-645-3823 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: https://sites.google.com/site/sahnwookhuh/home

Avanidhar Subrahmanyam (Contact Author)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Finance Area ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States
310-825-5355 (Phone)
310-206-5455 (Fax)

Financial Research Network (FIRN)

C/- University of Queensland Business School
St Lucia, 4071 Brisbane
Queensland
Australia

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