文献名: Taking Stock Seriously -  Equity Market Performance, Government Policy, and Financial Globalization
内容介绍:
How do government policies and institutions affect equity market performance across countries? This question is gaining urgency as stock markets become broader and deeper in the developed and developing worlds. In 2004, global stock market capitalization stood at $37.2 trillion, compared to global GDP of $41.3 trillion. While this was slightly less than global commercial bank assets ($57.3 trillion), it markedly exceeds the total size of outstanding public debt securities, which stood at $23.1 trillion. The bulk of total stock market capitalization represents developed-country equity markets, but less developed country (LDC) markets—which accounted for 14 percent of total capitalization in 2004—are quickly gaining ground. Some emerging market countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and South Africa, have total stock market capitalizations that exceed their respective GDPs. Equity markets provide a useful mechanism for governments to raise capital through the sale of state-owned enterprises, and thereby lessen their reliance on sovereign debt. Moreover, equity markets enhance corporate efficiency, spur innovation, and provide a valuable source of capital for long-term economic development (Lavelle 2004). In short, it is clear that equities constitute an increasingly important capital market in the world economy. However, we currently know very little about how government policy choices and political institutions influence equity investors’ decisions.