IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jimfin/v41y2014icp182-196.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic freedom and the stability of stock prices: A cross-country analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Blau, Benjamin M.
  • Brough, Tyler J.
  • Thomas, Diana W.

Abstract

This paper investigates the link between economic freedom and the price stability of individual securities in a unique setting. Using a sample of 327 American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), we find an inverse relation between the economic freedom of a ADRs' home country and the price volatility of the ADR. This negative correlation is driven primarily by certain components of economic freedom, such as property right protection, the soundness of the money, and the level of free trade in the home country. Further, we find evidence that less regulation and less government control of markets in the home country leads to more stable ADR prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Blau, Benjamin M. & Brough, Tyler J. & Thomas, Diana W., 2014. "Economic freedom and the stability of stock prices: A cross-country analysis," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 182-196.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:41:y:2014:i:c:p:182-196
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2013.12.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261560613001757
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jimonfin.2013.12.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Y. Campbell & Martin Lettau & Burton G. Malkiel & Yexiao Xu, 2001. "Have Individual Stocks Become More Volatile? An Empirical Exploration of Idiosyncratic Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 1-43, February.
    2. Wurgler, Jeffrey, 2000. "Financial markets and the allocation of capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 187-214.
    3. Bengoa, Marta & Sanchez-Robles, Blanca, 2003. "Foreign direct investment, economic freedom and growth: new evidence from Latin America," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 529-545, September.
    4. Wu, Guojun, 2001. "The Determinants of Asymmetric Volatility," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 837-859.
    5. Flachaire, Emmanuel & García-Peñalosa, Cecilia & Konte, Maty, 2014. "Political versus economic institutions in the growth process," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 212-229.
    6. Lubos Pástor & Pietro Veronesi, 2012. "Uncertainty about Government Policy and Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1219-1264, August.
    7. de Haan, Jakob & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2000. "On the relationship between economic freedom and economic growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 215-241, June.
    8. Alfaro, Laura & Chanda, Areendam & Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem & Sayek, Selin, 2004. "FDI and economic growth: the role of local financial markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 89-112, October.
    9. McInish, Thomas H & Wood, Robert A, 1992. "An Analysis of Intraday Patterns in Bid/Ask Spreads for NYSE Stocks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 753-764, June.
    10. Venkat R. Eleswarapu & Kumar Venkataraman, 2006. "The Impact of Legal and Political Institutions on Equity Trading Costs: A Cross-Country Analysis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 1081-1111.
    11. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1995. "Institutions And Economic Performance: Cross‐Country Tests Using Alternative Institutional Measures," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 207-227, November.
    12. Indra Soysa & Krishna Vadlammanati, 2013. "Do pro-market economic reforms drive human rights violations? An empirical assessment, 1981–2006," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 163-187, April.
    13. Easton, Stephen T & Walker, Michael A, 1997. "Income, Growth, and Economic Freedom," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 328-332, May.
    14. Scully, Gerald W, 1988. "The Institutional Framework and Economic Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(3), pages 652-662, June.
    15. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    16. James D. Gwartney & Robert A. Lawson & Randall G. Holcombe, 1999. "Economic Freedom and the Environment for Economic Growth," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 155(4), pages 643-643, December.
    17. Bekaert, Geert & Wu, Guojun, 2000. "Asymmetric Volatility and Risk in Equity Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 1-42.
    18. Chan, Louis K C & Lakonishok, Josef, 1995. "The Behavior of Stock Prices around Institutional Trades," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1147-1174, September.
    19. William Easterly (ed.), 2008. "Reinventing Foreign Aid," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262550660, December.
    20. Harry Markowitz, 1952. "Portfolio Selection," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 7(1), pages 77-91, March.
    21. Christie, Andrew A., 1982. "The stochastic behavior of common stock variances : Value, leverage and interest rate effects," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 407-432, December.
    22. Pagano, Marco, 1993. "Financial markets and growth: An overview," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(2-3), pages 613-622, April.
    23. William F. Sharpe, 1964. "Capital Asset Prices: A Theory Of Market Equilibrium Under Conditions Of Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 19(3), pages 425-442, September.
    24. Black, Fischer & Scholes, Myron S, 1973. "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 637-654, May-June.
    25. Graeff, P. & Mehlkop, G., 2003. "The impact of economic freedom on corruption: different patterns for rich and poor countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 605-620, September.
    26. Saurav Roychoudhury & Robert A. Lawson, 2010. "Economic freedom and sovereign credit ratings and default risk," Journal of Financial Economic Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 2(2), pages 149-162, June.
    27. Blau, Benjamin M. & Van Ness, Robert A. & Warr, Richard S., 2012. "Short selling of ADRs and foreign market short-sale constraints," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 886-897.
    28. Paldam, Martin, 2002. "The cross-country pattern of corruption: economics, culture and the seesaw dynamics," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 215-240, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Blau, Benjamin M., 2018. "Exchange rate volatility and the stability of stock prices," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 299-311.
    2. Baig, Ahmed S. & Blau, Benjamin M. & Butt, Hassan A. & Yasin, Awaid, 2022. "Do retail traders destabilize financial markets? An investigation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    3. Aharon, David Y. & Siev, Smadar, 2021. "COVID-19, government interventions and emerging capital markets performance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Shahnazi, Rouhollah & Dehghan Shabani, Zahra, 2021. "The effects of renewable energy, spatial spillover of CO2 emissions and economic freedom on CO2 emissions in the EU," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 293-307.
    5. Shaddady, Ali & Moore, Tomoe, 2019. "Investigation of the effects of financial regulation and supervision on bank stability: The application of CAMELS-DEA to quantile regressions," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 96-116.
    6. Chen, Mei-Ping & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Hsu, Yi-Chung, 2017. "Investor sentiment and country exchange traded funds: Does economic freedom matter?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 285-299.
    7. Ahmed, Walid M.A., 2021. "Stock market reactions to upside and downside volatility of Bitcoin: A quantile analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    8. Baig, Ahmed S. & Blau, Benjamin M. & Whitby, Ryan J., 2019. "Price clustering and economic freedom: The case of cross-listed securities," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-12.
    9. Devinaga RASIAH & Tay Lee YING & Sakiru Adebola SOLARIN, 2016. "Economic freedom index and stock returns in Malaysia," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(606), S), pages 213-236, Spring.
    10. Aharon, David Y. & Baig, Ahmed S. & Jacoby, Gady & Wu, Zhenyu, 2024. "Greenhouse gas emissions and the stability of equity markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    11. Chen, Yu-Lun & Mo, Wan-Shin & Qin, Rong-Ling & Yang, J. Jimmy, 2023. "Return spillover across China's financial markets," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    12. Baig, Ahmed S. & Blau, Benjamin M. & Butt, Hassan A. & Yasin, Awaid, 2023. "Reprint of: Do retail traders destabilize financial markets? An investigation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    13. Ben-Ahmed, Kais & Ayadi, Imen & Hamad, Salah Ben, 2022. "COVID-19 impact on digital companies’ stock return: A dynamic data analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    14. Jang-Chul Kim & Qing Su, 2024. "Political ratings, government quality, and liquidity: evidence from Non-U.S. energy stocks listed on the NYSE," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 48(3), pages 614-643, September.
    15. Aharon, David Y. & Baig, Ahmed S. & DeLisle, R. Jared, 2022. "The impact of government interventions on cross-listed securities: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    16. Baig, Ahmed S. & Blau, Benjamin M. & Sabah, Nasim, 2021. "Free trade and the efficiency of financial markets," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    17. Ahmed, Walid M.A., 2020. "Corruption and equity market performance: International comparative evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    18. Marc Zenzius & Christian Flore & Dirk Schiereck, 2022. "Tough times for seasoned equity offerings: performance during the COVID pandemic," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(9), pages 1491-1510, November.
    19. Baig, Ahmed S. & Butt, Hassan Anjum & Haroon, Omair & Rizvi, Syed Aun R., 2021. "Deaths, panic, lockdowns and US equity markets: The case of COVID-19 pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    20. Grossmann, Axel & Ngo, Thanh, 2022. "Cross-country cultural and economic freedom influences on the relationship between economic policy uncertainty and ADR mispricing," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    21. Iona, Alfonsina & Leonida, Leone & Limosani, Michele & Maimone Ansaldo Patti, Dario & Navarra, Pietro, 2024. "Does economic liberalization foster corporate investment? Theory and evidence from US and Canadian firms," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    22. Beckmann, Klaus S. & Ngo, Thanh & Wang, Daphne, 2015. "The informational content of ADR mispricing," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 32, pages 1-14.
    23. Tibi Didier Zoungrana & Daouda Lawa tan Toé & Mamadou Toé, 2023. "Covid‐19 outbreak and stocks return on the West African Economic and Monetary Union's stock market: An empirical analysis of the relationship through the event study approach," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 1404-1422, April.
    24. Atangana Ondoa Henri & Seabrook Arthur Mveng, 2024. "Economic Freedom and Productivity in Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 3039-3058, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Blau, Benjamin M., 2018. "Exchange rate volatility and the stability of stock prices," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 299-311.
    2. Doucouliagos, Chris & Ulubasoglu, Mehmet Ali, 2006. "Economic freedom and economic growth: Does specification make a difference?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 60-81, March.
    3. Aharon, David Y. & Baig, Ahmed S. & Jacoby, Gady & Wu, Zhenyu, 2024. "Greenhouse gas emissions and the stability of equity markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Baig, Ahmed S. & Blau, Benjamin M. & Sabah, Nasim, 2021. "Free trade and the efficiency of financial markets," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    5. Blau, Benjamin M. & Whitby, Ryan J., 2020. "Gambling activity and stock price volatility: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    6. Xuan Vinh Vo & Kevin Daly, 2008. "Volatility amongst firms in the Dow Jones Eurostoxx50 Index," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(7), pages 569-582.
    7. Choi, Jaewon & Richardson, Matthew, 2016. "The volatility of a firm's assets and the leverage effect," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 254-277.
    8. Yasir Khan & Attiya Yasmin Javid, 2015. "The Impact of Formal and Informal Institutions on Economic Performance: A Cross-Country Analysis," PIDE-Working Papers 2015:130, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    9. Jakob De Haan & Susanna Lundström & Jan‐Egbert Sturm, 2006. "Market‐oriented institutions and policies and economic growth: A critical survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 157-191, April.
    10. Dawid Piątek & Katarzyna Sarzec, 2009. "Państwo a dobrobyt ekonomiczny - między wolnością a przymusem," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 5-6, pages 1-19.
    11. Torben G. Andersen & Tim Bollerslev & Peter F. Christoffersen & Francis X. Diebold, 2005. "Volatility Forecasting," PIER Working Paper Archive 05-011, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    12. Frederick Adjei & Mavis Adjei, 2017. "Market share, firm innovation, and idiosyncratic volatility," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 41(3), pages 569-580, July.
    13. Andersen, Torben G. & Bollerslev, Tim & Christoffersen, Peter F. & Diebold, Francis X., 2006. "Volatility and Correlation Forecasting," Handbook of Economic Forecasting, in: G. Elliott & C. Granger & A. Timmermann (ed.), Handbook of Economic Forecasting, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 15, pages 777-878, Elsevier.
    14. Jac C Heckelman & Benjamin Powell, 2010. "Corruption and the Institutional Environment for Growth," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 52(3), pages 351-378, September.
    15. Siriopoulos, Costas & Fassas, Athanasios, 2012. "An investor sentiment barometer — Greek Implied Volatility Index (GRIV)," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 77-93.
    16. Burcu ŞENALP, 2018. "Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Growth and Economic Freedom: A Literature Survey," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 68(2), pages 301-336, December.
    17. Amanjot Singh & Manjit Singh, 2016. "Risk–Return Relationship in BRIC Equity Markets: Evidence from Markov Regime Switching Model with Time-varying Transition Probabilities," Metamorphosis: A Journal of Management Research, , vol. 15(2), pages 69-78, December.
    18. Christensen, K. & Podolskij, M. & Thamrongrat, N. & Veliyev, B., 2017. "Inference from high-frequency data: A subsampling approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 197(2), pages 245-272.
    19. Dewandaru, Ginanjar & Bacha, Obiyathulla Ismath & Masih, A. Mansur M. & Masih, Rumi, 2015. "Risk-return characteristics of Islamic equity indices: Multi-timescales analysis," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 115-138.
    20. Hatice KÜÇÜKKAYA, 2017. "EUREFE’17 International Conference," Turkish Economic Review, KSP Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 343-344, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:41:y:2014:i:c:p:182-196. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30443 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.