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Testing for efficiency in the Saudi stock market: does corporate governance change matter?

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  • Al-Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh
  • Dockery, Everton

Abstract

We study the informational efficiency of the Saudi stock market (SSM), while accounting for corporate governance change, based on single, multiple, and variance ratio-based WALD tests and runs test. The main findings indicate that when the whole period is considered, the random walk hypothesis is rejected, but when divided into two sub-periods separated by the pre-corporate governance and the period marked by corporate governance change, the analysis demonstrates sub-period improvement in weak-form efficiency for the examined series. Robustness of results is verified by analysis using sector indices, which point to market efficiency. Interestingly, Hurst Exponent estimates evidence long-range dependence which suggests the predictability of stock prices and the prospect of speculative opportunities.

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  • Al-Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh & Dockery, Everton, 2020. "Testing for efficiency in the Saudi stock market: does corporate governance change matter?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-30.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:225534
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-020-00939-0
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Saudi stock market; Corporate governance; Market efficiency; Random walk; Variance ratio; Hurst exponent;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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