This study empirically tests time-varying asset pricing models in an emerging market with individual stocks. We employ a recently proposed instrumental variables (IV) technique that uses individual stocks as test assets while consistently estimating ex-post risk premiums. This method differs from constructing test portfolios, a common practice employed to mitigate errors-in-variables bias, and, instead, uses factor sensitivity estimates from alternating even and odd months as IVs. Applying this approach, we observe statistically insignificant factor risk premiums under various multifactor models in asset pricing tests at Borsa Istanbul, after accounting for asset characteristics. Our method facilitates the inclusion of essential risk or return-related characteristics of individual stocks in tests, raising insights usually obscured by conventional test portfolios. The results contribute to empirical asset pricing by highlighting the failure of classical models to explain risk premiums at Borsa Istanbul, a significant emerging stock market, when tested with individual stocks using an IV approach.
Suppressing corporate financialization exacerbated by rising labor costs is an important micro-level issue for revitalizing the manufacturing industry. This research investigates the interaction mechanism among labor costs and financialization, using panel data of Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2022 in the context of the disappearance of the demographic dividend. The results of the moderated mediation model show that rising labor costs worsen financialization by reducing corporate profitability and increase financialization through negative earnings manipulation, whereas digitization suppresses both the direct and indirect effect of labor costs. Therefore, measures should be taken to enhance the profitability and accounting transparency of companies undergoing the process of accelerating digitization.
The emergence of Covid-19 in late 2019 rapidly shattered the Asia-Pacific region (APR), a bastion of economic dynamism, and it became the epicenter of the global health crisis. This unprecedented pandemic not only triggered a public health catastrophe but also unleashed a financial storm, exposing vulnerability within the region's interconnected economies. This study identifies the factors driving volatility spillovers within Asian-Pacific financial markets during the initial wave of the Covid-19 pandemic (January 2020–February 2021). We analyze the interplay of pandemic transmission dynamics, government interventions, central bank policies, and socioeconomic variables. Our findings reveal a robust and persistent association between the rising number of Covid-19 cases per million and volatility spillovers. We introduce three novel determinants—the number of intensive care unit beds, population density, and the proportion of the elderly population—which significantly impact volatility transmission in response to new cases. Stringent government measures, such as travel bans and lockdowns, mitigate volatility spillovers. Conversely, central bank policies increase volatility spillovers. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of financial market dynamics in the context of global health emergencies. This knowledge equips policy makers in the APR with valuable tools for navigating future crises.
The group of companies formed by Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet have become a successful investment alternative in the U.S. stock market. In this context, the aim of this research is to provide investment strategies based on these companies to the challenge of how individual investors should allocate their funds in a portfolio and outperform benchmarks such as the SPY ETF or a naïve portfolio. To this end, we developed a total of 20 asset allocation models and constructed portfolios with different rebalancing periods between April 2014 and June 2022. Our overall results reveal that a combination of a short window length for estimating the parameters of the asset allocation models and a procedure that takes downside risk into account, more precisely the Lower Partial Moment approach, significantly outperforms the alternative of investing in the SPY ETF and also the naïve portfolio.
This study is the first to analyze the impact of domestic political unrest on Kuwait’s stock market. Our data indicates a daily market decline of 0.16 percent during periods when the parliament is suspended. This translates to a 7.1 percent loss in the value of the Kuwait Stock Exchange for each period of suspension. Our findings suggest that Kuwait, despite having a more democratic political system, experiences greater economic instability than Saudi Arabia. This research highlights the nuanced relationship between the political structure and economic performance, particularly in emerging markets, challenging the notion that more democracy invariably leads to better economic outcomes.