From 2008 NEC
215.2 Minimum Rating and Size.
(A) Feeders Not More Than 600 Volts.
(1) General. Feeder conductors shall have an ampacity not less than required to supply the load as calculated in Parts III, IV, and V of Article 220. The minimum feeder-circuit conductor size, before the application of any adjustment or correction factors, shall have an allowable ampacity not less than the noncontinuous load plus 125 percent of the continuous load.
Exception No. 1: Where the assembly, including the overcurrent devices protecting the feeder(s), is listed for operation at 100 percent of its rating, the allowable ampacity of the feeder conductors shall be permitted to be not less than the sum of the continuous load plus the noncontinuous load.
Exception No. 2: Grounded conductors that are not connected to an overcurrent device shall be permitted to be sized at 100 percent of the continuous and noncontinuous load.
The size of the feeder circuit grounded conductor shall not be smaller than that required by 250.122, except that 250.122(F) shall not apply where grounded conductors are run in parallel.
Additional minimum sizes shall be as specified in 215.2(A)(2) and (A)(3) under the conditions stipulated.
My guess is that if there were to be a fault from a phase to neutral that you would want at least the same size neutral as the required equipment ground conductor to protect the conductor.
If on a 400 amp feeder your neutral load was 20 amps and you installed a #12 and had a phase to neutral fault within the feeder, which opens first, the 400 amp OCPD or the #12, depending on conditions it could possibly be the #12