Economic Freedom and Crashes in Financial Markets
33 Pages Posted: 26 Dec 2015 Last revised: 1 Jan 2016
Date Written: December 26, 2015
Abstract
Using a unique empirical approach that accounts for the possibility that financial market crashes are endogenously determined by market structures, this study examines how economic freedom contribute to crashes in financial markets. On one hand, economic freedom might provide an unregulated framework that contributes to the likelihood of crashes. On the other hand, economic freedom may mitigate regulatory uncertainty thus providing a level of transparency that reduces the likelihood of crashes. Results in this study provide strong support for the latter idea as countries with higher economic freedom experience lower probabilities of market crashes and more positive skewness in asset returns. A closer examination of the data suggest that the components of economic freedom that contribute most to the reduction in crash risk is the level of free trade and, to some extent, the strength of property right protection.
Keywords: Economic Freedom, Crashes, Skewness
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