Korteweg, A., Kraussl, R. and Verwijmeren, P. (2015). Does it pay to invest in art? A selection-corrected returns perspective Review of Financial Studies, 29(4):1007--1038.
-
Affiliated author
-
Publication year2016
-
JournalReview of Financial Studies
This paper shows the importance of correcting for sample selection when investing in illiquid assets that trade endogenously. Using a sample of 32,928 paintings that sold repeatedly between 1960 and 2013, we find an asymmetric V-shaped relation between sale probabilities and returns. Adjusting for the resulting selection bias reduces average annual index returns from 8.7% to 6.3%, lowers Sharpe ratios from 0.27 to 0.11, and materially impacts portfolio allocations. Investing in a broad portfolio of paintings is not attractive, but targeting specific styles or top-selling artists may add value. The methodology naturally extends to other asset classes.