The Impact of Creditor Protection on Stock Prices in the Presence of Credit Crunches

30 Pages Posted: 26 Aug 2009

See all articles by Galina Hale

Galina Hale

University of California, Santa Cruz

Assaf Razin

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Hui Tong

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 2009

Abstract

Data show that better creditor protection is correlated across countries with lower average stock market volatility. Moreover, countries with better creditor protection are observed to have suffered lower decline in their stock market indexes during the current financial crisis. To explain this regularity, we use a stylised Tobin-q model of investment. Our model predicts that (1) the incidence of credit crunches should be lower in countries with better creditor protection; and, {2) that the decline in the stock market index during crises should be lower in countries with better creditor protection. We find support for these mechanisms in a panel data consisting of both OECD and OECD countries. We find that countries with higher level of creditor-rights protection are less likely to experience liquidity crises, even within the subsamples of OECD and non-OECD countries. We find, however, that only in the subsample of non-OECD countries do we observe a larger decline in the stock market index for countries with low level of creditor rights protection, in the presence of credit crunches.

Keywords: credit crunch, Tobin Q

JEL Classification: F3, G2

Suggested Citation

Hale, Galina and Razin, Assaf and Tong, Hui, The Impact of Creditor Protection on Stock Prices in the Presence of Credit Crunches (July 2009). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP7357, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1461986

Galina Hale

University of California, Santa Cruz ( email )

1156 High St
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
United States

Assaf Razin (Contact Author)

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 39040
Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, 69978
Israel
+972 3 640 7303 (Phone)
+972 3 640 9908 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

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Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.CESifo.de

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Hui Tong

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

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