World War II Events and the Dow-Jones Industrial Index

Abstract:     
[enter Abstract Body]This paper tries to determine which events of World War II (WWII) were viewed as the turning point (structural break) of war by the US investors. The empirical study employs daily Dow Jones industrial average stock index from January 1939 to December 1945 and applies structural shift oriented test to determine endogenously the structural breaks during the WWII period. Results show that majority of the wartime events (on and off the battlefield) labelled important by historians did result in structural breaks in price movement (risk).

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: WWII, Events, Structural breaks, Allies, Stock index

JEL Classification: G10, G14

working papers series