Motivated by theoretical analysis and unique Korean mutual fund market data, this paper provides new evidence of herding between individual investors and institutional investors in the mutual fund market along with related issues of risk aversion, dynamic investment strategies, cumulative performance, and the business cycle effect on herding. We find that individual mutual fund investors follow institutional mutual fund investors more than individual direct investors do in the direct investment market. We also find that individual mutual fund investors are more risk averse than other investor groups, and their herding behavior is pro-cyclical.
Keywords: individual investor, institutional investor, herding, mutual funds
JEL Classification : C12, C13, G14, G2
