Behind in time, behind in the game – time zone affects trading aggressiveness

This study examines the aggressiveness of orders submitted by retail investors trading on the same exchange but from different time zones. Individuals located to the west of the exchange's time zone and, therefore, behind in time are less aggressive in their order submission than investors located in the exchange's time zone. We attribute this observation to the difference in time available for processing the information necessary for aggressive trading. The impact of the time zone difference is opposite to the impact of time lost due to the start of daylight saving time, when the disturbance of sleep leads to increased aggressiveness in trading. The findings are robust after controlling for the additional investor factor, as well as stock and market factors and when an alternative aggressiveness measure, sample period or sets of the sample are used.