The impact of investor sentiment on stock liquidity of listed companies in China

Researchers have scrutinized the link between investor sentiment and stock market liquidity globally, yet few have delved into this dynamic in emerging markets, especially China. Utilizing a sample of 1,839 publicly listed companies in China from 2010 to 2019, this study applies firm- and year-fixed-effects models to explore the nexus between investor sentiment and stock illiquidity, employing the Amihud measure for stock illiquidity assessment. The outcomes of these fixed-effect regressions illustrate a significantly positive relationship between investor sentiment and stock liquidity in the Chinese market. The positive link is more evident in scenarios characterized by high firm leverage, rapid revenue growth, larger corporations, greater institutional ownership, higher stock volatility, and lower book-to-market ratios. Intriguingly, this analysis incorporates the quadratic term of investor sentiment to examine the potential for a nonlinear dynamic between stock illiquidity and investor sentiment. The findings elucidate that the effect of investor sentiment on stock liquidity diminishes at elevated levels of sentiment, revealing a nonlinear inverse U-shaped relationship. The positive correlation between investor sentiment and stock liquidity persists across the three divisions of the Chinese Shenzhen Stock Exchange and remains robust using alternative liquidity measures, such as Roll’s impact and zeros impact. Addressing causality concerns, current investor sentiment appears to influence subsequent liquidity levels. These results provide valuable perspectives for policymakers, business executives, and investors in the stock market. Acknowledgment This research was funded by the Department of Education of Zhejiang Province General Program Y202353438, the Wenzhou Association for Science and Technology—Service and Technology Innovation Program jczc0254, the Wenzhou-Kean University Student Partnering with Faculty Research Program WKUSPF2023004, and the Wenzhou-Kean University International Collaborative Research Program ICRP2023002.