International diversification versus domestic diversification: Mean-variance portfolio optimization and stochastic dominance approaches

Fathi Abid, Pui Lam Leung, Mourad Mroua, Wing Keung Wong

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal article

    Abstract

    This paper applies the mean-variance portfolio optimization (PO) approach and the stochastic dominance (SD) test to examine preferences for international diversification versus domestic diversification from American investors’ viewpoints. Our PO results imply that the domestic diversification strategy dominates the international diversification strategy at a lower risk level and the reverse is true at a higher risk level. Our SD analysis shows that there is no arbitrage opportunity between international and domestic stock markets; domestically diversified portfolios with smaller risk dominate internationally diversified portfolios with larger risk and vice versa; and at the same risk level, there is no difference between the domestically and internationally diversified portfolios. Nonetheless, we cannot find any domestically diversified portfolios that stochastically dominate all internationally diversified portfolios, but we find some internationally diversified portfolios with small risk that dominate all the domestically diversified portfolios.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)45-66
    Number of pages22
    JournalJournal of Risk and Financial Management
    Volume7
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2014

    User-Defined Keywords

    • international diversification
    • domestic diversification
    • mean-variance portfolio optimization
    • stochastic dominance

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