IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jrisks/v11y2023i2p22-d1038392.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Direct Democracy on Stock Market Risk and Returns: An Event Study from Switzerland

Author

Listed:
  • Bruce Morley

    (Department of Economics, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether referendums affect stock price risks and returns, using an event study approach. Daily end period data for the Swiss stock market index, the STOXX European market index, and the Swiss/US exchange rate running from the beginning of 2004 to June 2021, along with the EGARCH model, were applied to determine the effects on both the market’s return and volatility. The results suggest that the day after the referendum, there was little evidence of a positive effect on stock returns. However, using a longer window of three days before and after the referendum, there was evidence of a positive effect from the referendum on the market’s returns and a negative effect on its volatility. Analysing the effects of referendums on both asset returns and risks allows for a more comprehensive assessment of how they impact on the economy, with these results supporting previous studies that found a positive effect on economic returns, and also showing they can reduce risks.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruce Morley, 2023. "The Effects of Direct Democracy on Stock Market Risk and Returns: An Event Study from Switzerland," Risks, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:11:y:2023:i:2:p:22-:d:1038392
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/11/2/22/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/11/2/22/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julia Darby & Graeme Roy, 2019. "Political uncertainty and stock market volatility: new evidence from the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 66(2), pages 314-330, May.
    2. Nelson, Daniel B, 1991. "Conditional Heteroskedasticity in Asset Returns: A New Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(2), pages 347-370, March.
    3. Peltzman, Sam, 1984. "Constituent Interest and Congressional Voting," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 181-210, April.
    4. Anthony Downs, 1957. "An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65, pages 135-135.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Suresh Naidu & Pascual Restrepo & James A. Robinson, 2019. "Democracy Does Cause Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(1), pages 47-100.
    6. Binder, John J, 1998. "The Event Study Methodology since 1969," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 111-137, September.
    7. Chan, Yue-cheong & John Wei, K. C., 1996. "Political risk and stock price volatility: The case of Hong Kong," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 4(2-3), pages 259-275, July.
    8. Frey, Christian & Schaltegger, Christoph A., 2021. "The initiative, referendum, and distribution of income: An empirical analysis of Swiss cantons," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Joshua C. Hall & Jeremy Horpedahl & E. Frank Stephenson, 2021. "Collective Action Problems and Direct Democracy: An Analysis of Georgia’s 2010 Trauma Care Funding Amendment," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-9, April.
    10. Eric Maskin & Jean Tirole, 2004. "The Politician and the Judge: Accountability in Government," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1034-1054, September.
    11. Davies, Ronald B. & Studnicka, Zuzanna, 2018. "The heterogeneous impact of Brexit: Early indications from the FTSE," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 1-17.
    12. John G. Matsusaka, 2018. "Public policy and the initiative and referendum: a survey with some new evidence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 107-143, January.
    13. Galletta, Sergio, 2021. "Form of government and voters’ preferences for public spending," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 548-561.
    14. Hillier, David & Loncan, Tiago, 2019. "Political uncertainty and Stock returns: Evidence from the Brazilian Political Crisis," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-12.
    15. Mensi, Walid & Hammoudeh, Shawkat & Yoon, Seong-Min, 2014. "How do OPEC news and structural breaks impact returns and volatility in crude oil markets? Further evidence from a long memory process," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 343-354.
    16. Glosten, Lawrence R & Jagannathan, Ravi & Runkle, David E, 1993. "On the Relation between the Expected Value and the Volatility of the Nominal Excess Return on Stocks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(5), pages 1779-1801, December.
    17. John G. Matsusaka, 2005. "Direct Democracy Works," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 185-206, Spring.
    18. Reboredo, Juan C. & Ugolini, Andrea, 2018. "The impact of Twitter sentiment on renewable energy stocks," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 153-169.
    19. Lang, Corey & Prendergast, Patrick & Pearson-Merkowitz, Shanna, 2018. "How does municipal policy affect state and local actions? Evidence from land conservation spending," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 23-36.
    20. Daniel Castillo & Joseph Falzon, 2018. "An Analysis of the Impact of WannaCry Cyberattack on Cybersecurity Stock Returns," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 13, pages 93-100, August.
    21. Bruce Morley, 2019. "The Effects of Commodity Discoveries on Small Open Economies: Empirical Evidence from the Falkland Islands," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-10, October.
    22. Matsusaka, John G & McCarty, Nolan M, 2001. "Political Resource Allocation: Benefits and Costs of Voter Initiatives," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 413-448, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Matsusaka, 2005. "The eclipse of legislatures: Direct democracy in the 21st century," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 157-177, July.
    2. Geschwind, Stephan & Roesel, Felix, 2022. "Taxation under direct democracy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 536-554.
    3. Bruce Morley, 2019. "The Effects of Commodity Discoveries on Small Open Economies: Empirical Evidence from the Falkland Islands," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-10, October.
    4. Chia-Lin Chang & Shu-Han Hsu & Michael McAleer, 2018. "An Event Study Analysis of Political Events, Disasters, and Accidents for Chinese Tourists to Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-77, November.
    5. Czudaj Robert L., 2020. "The role of uncertainty on agricultural futures markets momentum trading and volatility," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 24(3), pages 1-39, June.
    6. Chin-Tsai Lin & Yi-Hsien Wang, 2005. "An Analysis of Political Changes on Nikkei 225 Stock Returns and Volatilities," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 6(1), pages 169-183, May.
    7. Kanungo, Rama Prasad, 2021. "Uncertainty of M&As under asymmetric estimation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 774-793.
    8. Afanasyev, Dmitriy O. & Fedorova, Elena & Ledyaeva, Svetlana, 2021. "Strength of words: Donald Trump's tweets, sanctions and Russia's ruble," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 253-277.
    9. John G. Matsusaka, 2005. "Direct Democracy Works," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 185-206, Spring.
    10. Ewing, Bradley T. & Malik, Farooq, 2017. "Modelling asymmetric volatility in oil prices under structural breaks," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 227-233.
    11. Simon Hug, 2009. "Some thoughts about referendums, representative democracy, and separation of powers," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 251-266, September.
    12. Ciarreta, Aitor & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina & Zarraga, Ainhoa, 2020. "Renewable energy regulation and structural breaks: An empirical analysis of Spanish electricity price volatility," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    13. Yi-Hsien Wang & Chin-Tsai Lin, 2008. "Empirical analysis of political uncertainty on TAIEX stock market," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(7), pages 545-550.
    14. Stadelmann, David & Torrens, Gustavo, 2020. "Who is the ultimate boss of legislators: Voters, special interest groups or parties?," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224562, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Chau, Frankie & Deesomsak, Rataporn & Wang, Jun, 2014. "Political uncertainty and stock market volatility in the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 1-19.
    16. Matthew Houser & Berna Karali, 2020. "How Scary Are Food Scares? Evidence from Animal Disease Outbreaks," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 283-306, June.
    17. Sherif, Mohamed, 2020. "The impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on faith-based investments: An original analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    18. Yi-Hsien Wang & Chin-Tsai Lin, 2009. "The political uncertainty and stock market behavior in emerging democracy: the case of Taiwan," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 237-248, March.
    19. Emanuel V. Towfigh & Sebastian J. Goerg & Andreas Glöckner & Philip Leifeld & Aniol Llorente-Saguer & Sophie Bade & Carlos Kurschilgen, 2016. "Do direct-democratic procedures lead to higher acceptance than political representation?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 47-65, April.
    20. Corbet, Shaen & Gurdgiev, Constantin & Meegan, Andrew, 2018. "Long-term stock market volatility and the influence of terrorist attacks in Europe," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 118-131.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:11:y:2023:i:2:p:22-:d:1038392. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.