Oehler, A., Schneider, J., 2022, Social Trading: Do Signal Providers Trigger Gambling?, Review of Managerial Science 17(4), 1269-1331.

Abstract
Social trading - also referred to as copy trading - is an interactive platform-based innovation facilitating visibility and traceability of signal provider trading activities. Based on published portfolio transaction and return track records, platform users can copy one or several signal providers, i.e. delegate their investment decisions, and thereby become signal followers. Allowing signal providers to administer purely virtual portfolios, in combination with a remuneration scheme based on performance fees and high watermarks, creates convex or option-like incentives. We argue that the incentive structure imposed by social trading providers, including a very limited monetary downside risk for signal providers, may motivate traders to gamble. In this context, we assess the factors that have an impact on signal provider lottery-like stock transactions.
We provide empirical evidence that signal providers tend to increase the traded relative share of lottery-like stocks when being located at an extreme end of the relative performance spectrum. Furthermore, we provide evidence that underperforming signal providers increase their net exposure towards lottery-like stocks, in turn exposing signal followers to a lottery-like return structure - triggering gambling.

Keywords

Lottery-like Stocks, Gambling, Social Trading

Zuvor:

Oehler, A., Schneider, J., 2022, Social Trading: Do Signal Providers Trigger Gambling?; Economics of Financial Technology Conference, May 11-13; VHB Jahrestagung des Verbandes der Hochschullehrer, März 08-11.
Oehler, A., Schneider, J., 2021, Social Trading: Do Signal Providers Trigger Gambling?; Behavioural Finance Working Group Conference, June 10-11; OR 2021 International Conference on Operations Research, August 31 - September 3; Southern Finance Association (SFA) Annual Meeting, November 17-20.
Oehler, A., Schneider, J., 2020, Social Trading: When do Signal Providers Gamble?; Psychonomic Society 2020 Annual Meeting, November 19-21; Behavioural Finance Working Group Conference, June 11-12 (postponed).
Oehler, A., Schneider, J., 2019, Gambling with Lottery Stocks?; 2019 Behavioural Finance Working Group Conference, June 6-7.