Does Policy Instability Matter for International Equity Markets?

International Review of Finance, Forthcoming

56 Pages Posted: 23 Jul 2013 Last revised: 2 Mar 2019

See all articles by Swee Sum Lam

Swee Sum Lam

National University of Singapore - NUS Business School

Huiping Zhang

James Cook University - College of Business, Law and Governance,

Weina Zhang

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Sustainable & Green Finance Institute (SGFIN)

Date Written: July 20, 2018

Abstract

We test whether policy risk is systematically priced in equity returns across 49 countries from 1995 to 2013. We construct two global policy risk factors based on the ratings from international country risk guide. They capture the policy risk from government instability (GOVLMH) and the quality of bureaucracy (BURLMH). Both factors are significantly and positively related to equity returns and the BURLMH factor carries a monthly risk premium of 65 basis points. A country with weaker economic and institutional conditions has more risk exposure to the BURLMH factor whereas a country with high democracy has more risk exposure to the GOVLMH factor. Overall, our study reveals the importance and complexity of policy risk in international equity markets.

Keywords: bureaucratic quality, government stability, international asset pricing, policy instability

JEL Classification: G15, G18

Suggested Citation

Lam, Swee Sum and Zhang, Huiping and Zhang, Weina, Does Policy Instability Matter for International Equity Markets? (July 20, 2018). International Review of Finance, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2297133 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2297133

Swee Sum Lam

National University of Singapore - NUS Business School ( email )

1 Business Link
Singapore, 117592
Singapore
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HOME PAGE: http://www.bschool.nus.edu

Huiping Zhang

James Cook University - College of Business, Law and Governance, ( email )

Singapore
Singapore

Weina Zhang (Contact Author)

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Sustainable & Green Finance Institute (SGFIN) ( email )

Singapore

HOME PAGE: http://bizfaculty.nus.edu/faculty-profiles/108-weina

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