Abstract
This article investigates the pricing behavior of national index funds (NIFs). Under barriers to capital flows in an otherwise perfect capital market, the familiar result of zero premium/discount obtains. The more realistic assumption of imperfect cross-border arbitrage suggests that in a two country setting the NIFs will sell at a premium. In a multicountry framework, the investment barriers will result in NIFs generally trading at a premium, although theoretically one cannot rule out a discount from net asset value (NAV). A simple test supports the proposition that under investment barriers, NIFs should trade at a premium to NAV after controlling for the average domestic closed-end fund discount.
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Errunza, V.R. Pricing of national index funds. Rev Quant Finan Acc 1, 91–100 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02408408
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02408408