Star Ratings and the Incentives of Mutual Funds
提出一个声誉理论，解释投资者如何理性回应共同基金的星级评级。基金业绩取决于可获取但会随机衰减的信息优势，投资者根据过往业绩形成对基金是否知情的信念（即声誉），该声誉决定资金流入。星级升级意味着声誉跳跃，导致资金流入和预期业绩的离散增加，尽管星级本身不提供新信息。
ABSTRACT We propose a theory of reputation to explain how investors rationally respond to mutual fund star ratings. A fund's performance is determined by its information advantage, which can be acquired but decays stochastically. Investors form beliefs about whether the fund is informed based on its past performance. We refer to such beliefs as fund reputation, which determines fund flows. As performance changes continuously, equilibrium fund reputation may take discrete values only and thus can be labeled with stars. Star upgrades thus imply reputation jumps, leading to discrete increases in flows and expected performance, although stars do not provide new information.