Emerging Equity Market Volatility

79 Pages Posted: 26 Aug 2000 Last revised: 2 Jan 2022

See all articles by Geert Bekaert

Geert Bekaert

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Finance

Campbell R. Harvey

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: October 1995

Abstract

Returns in emerging capital markets are very different from returns in developed markets. While most previous research has focused on average returns, we analyze the volatility of the returns in emerging equity markets. We characterize the time-series of volatility in emerging markets and explore the distributional foundations of the variance process. Of particular interest is evidence of asymmetries in volatility and the evolution of the variance process after periods of capital market reform. We shed indirect light on the question of capital market integration by exploring the changing influence of world factors on the volatility in emerging markets. Finally, we investigate the cross-section of volatility. We use measures such as asset concentration, market capitalization to GDP, size of the trade sector, cross-sectional volatility of individual securities within each country, turnover, foreign exchange variability and national credit ratings to characterize why volatility is different across emerging markets.

Suggested Citation

Bekaert, Geert and Harvey, Campbell R., Emerging Equity Market Volatility (October 1995). NBER Working Paper No. w5307, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=225371

Geert Bekaert (Contact Author)

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Finance ( email )

NY
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Campbell R. Harvey

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.duke.edu/~charvey

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