Using newly-constructed data covering the last decade, we document that, in most of forty markets, when added to the main index, firms’ returns experience an increase in comovement with the rest of the index, reflected in higher beta and greater explanatory power of the market return. Stock turnover and analyst coverage also typically increase upon inclusion. Using various tests, we find the demand-based view of comovement (the category/habitat theories of Barberis, Shleifer and Wurgler, 2005) to provide a good explanation for many of our findings. Some results, though, suggest that information-related factors are also important in explaining the increased comovement.

We explore the link between international stock market comovement and the degree to which firms operate globally. Using stock returns and balance sheet data for companies in 20 countries, we estimate a factor model that decomposes stock returns into global, country-specific and industry-specific shocks. We find a large and highly significant link: on average, a firm raising its international sales by 10 percent raises the exposure of its stock return to global shocks by 2 percent and reduces its exposure to country-specific shocks by 1.5 percent. This link has grown stronger since the mid-1980s.

The degree of comovement across national stock markets has increased dramatically since the mid-1990s. This has overturned a stylized fact in the international portfolio diversification literature that diversifying across countries is more effective for risk reduction than diversifying across industries. We investigate if this rise in comovement is a permanent phenomenon driven by greater economic and financial integration, or a temporary effect associated with the recent stock market bubble. At the global level, our results point to the bubble. At a regional level, we find evidence of a significant rise in market integration within Europe, possibly a reflection of institutional changes such as the EMU.

This timely volume addresses three important recent trends in the internationalization of United States equity markets: extensive market integration through foreign investment and links among stock prices around the world; increasing securitization as countries such as Japan come to rely more than ever before on markets in equities and bonds at the expense of banks; and the opening of national financial systems of newly industrializing countries to international financial flows and institutions, as governments remove capital controls and other barriers. Eight essays examine such issues as the current extent of international market integration, gains to U.S. investors through international diversification, home-country bias in investing, the role of time and location around the world in stock trading, and the behavior of country funds. Other, long-standing questions about equity markets are also addressed, including market efficiency and the accuracy of models of expected returns, with a particular focus on variances, covariances, and the price of risk according to the Capital Asset Pricing Model.

In April 2000, 30 stocks were replaced in the Nikkei 225 Index. The unusually broad index redefinition allowed for a study of the effects of index-linked trading on the excess comovement of stock returns. A large increase occurred in the correlation of trading volume of stocks added to the index with the volume of stocks that remained in the index, and opposite results occurred for the deletions. Daily index return betas of the additions rose by an average of 0.45; index return betas of the deleted stocks fell by an average of 0.63. Theoretical predictions for changes in autocorrelations and cross-serial correlations of returns of index additions and deletions were confirmed. The results are consistent with the idea that trading patterns are associated with short-run excess comovement of stock returns.

Originally published in 1996, The International Guide to Securities Market Indices provides a comprehensive overview of the securities market indices and offers assistance to professionals as well as individual investors in the selection of an appropriate securities market index, on a worldwide basis. The Guide’s identifies and catalogues available performance indicators along with their publishers and describes their relevant characteristics and a perspective on their historical price and total return performance. It also contains descriptive profiles along with historical performance data on 400 of the world’s leading global, regional and local securities market indices and sub-indices covering 10 asset classes.

The degree of comovement across national stock markets has increased dramatically since the mid-1990s. This has overturned a stylized fact in the international portfolio diversification literature that diversifying across countries is more effective for risk reduction than diversifying across industries. We investigate if this rise in comovement is a permanent phenomenon driven by greater economic and financial integration, or a temporary effect associated with the recent stock market bubble. At the global level, our results point to the bubble. At a regional level, we find evidence of a significant rise in market integration within Europe, possibly a reflection of institutional changes such as the EMU.

This paper studies whether bilateral international financial connection data help predict bilateral stock return comovement. It is shown that, when the United States is chosen as the benchmark, a larger U.S. portfolio investment asset position on the destination economy predicts a stronger stock return comovement between them. For large economies such as the United States and Germany, the portfolio investment position is also the best predictor among other connection variables. The paper discusses with a simple general equilibrium portfolio model that the empirical pattern is consistent with the behavior of index investors who trade in response to risk-on/risk-off shocks.

The major stock indexes are spoken about daily, but the average person knows little about them. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the NASDAQ, and the S&P 500 are referenced all the time in business reports. Readers discover what the indices are, why we have them, and why they're so critical to the efficient operation of the global stock market. By understanding the mechanics of the stock market indices, readers will gain a better understanding of how the market works as a whole.