The Puzzle of the Harmonious Stock Prices

Abstract

A peculiar pattern is evident across the stock markets of different countries. In emerging markets, such as Peru and China, all the stocks in the country tend to rise and fall together in the course of ordinary trading. But in developed countries, such as Denmark and Canada, stocks move independently. What seems to determine how independently a country's stock prices move is not the size of its market, the diversification of its economy, the stability of its macroeconomic policy, or factors relating to the behavior of individual firms. Rather, stock prices move more independently in countries that are less corrupt.