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The war puzzle: contradictory effects of international conflicts on stock markets

Author

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  • Amelie Brune
  • Thorsten Hens
  • Marc Rieger
  • Mei Wang

Abstract

We study stock market reactions to large international military conflicts since World War II. Using a news analysis proxy for the estimated likelihood that a conflict will result in a war, we find that an increase in the war likelihood tends to decrease stock prices, but the ultimate outbreak of a war increases them. In cases when a war starts surprisingly, however, the outbreak of a war decreases stock prices. We show that this puzzle cannot be explained by risk or ambiguity aversion or by expectations about a quick end of the war. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Amelie Brune & Thorsten Hens & Marc Rieger & Mei Wang, 2015. "The war puzzle: contradictory effects of international conflicts on stock markets," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 62(1), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:inrvec:v:62:y:2015:i:1:p:1-21
    DOI: 10.1007/s12232-014-0215-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Hanedar, Avni Önder & Hanedar, Elmas Yaldız, 2017. "Ottoman stock returns during the Turco-Italian and Balkan Wars of 1910-1914," eabh Papers 17-02, The European Association for Banking and Financial History (EABH).
    4. Hanedar, Avni Önder & Yaldız Hanedar, Elmas, 2017. "Stock market reactions to wars and political risks: A cliometric perspective for a falling empire," MPRA Paper 85600, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 25 Mar 2018.
    5. Refk Selmi & Christos Kollias & Stephanos Papadamou & Rangan Gupta, 2017. "A Copula-Based Quantile-on-Quantile Regression Approach to Modeling Dependence Structure between Stock and Bond Returns: Evidence from Historical Data of India, South Africa, UK and US," Working Papers 201747, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    6. Katarzyna Czech & Michał Wielechowski & Richard Barichello, 2023. "The shock of war: do trade relations impact the reaction of stock markets to the Russian invasion of Ukraine?," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 1, pages 14-27.
    7. Piotr Fiszeder & Marta Ma³ecka, 2022. "Forecasting volatility during the outbreak of Russian invasion of Ukraine: application to commodities, stock indices, currencies, and cryptocurrencies," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(4), pages 939-967, December.
    8. Lo, Gaye-Del & Marcelin, Isaac & Bassène, Théophile & Sène, Babacar, 2022. "The Russo-Ukrainian war and financial markets: the role of dependence on Russian commodities," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    9. Gupta, Rangan & Kollias, Christos & Papadamou, Stephanos & Wohar, Mark E., 2018. "News implied volatility and the stock-bond nexus: Evidence from historical data for the USA and the UK markets," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 47, pages 76-90.
    10. Ioannis Dokas & Georgios Oikonomou & Minas Panagiotidis & Eleftherios Spyromitros, 2023. "Macroeconomic and Uncertainty Shocks’ Effects on Energy Prices: A Comprehensive Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-35, February.
    11. Antonio Jose Garzon Gordon & Luis Angel Hierro Recio, 2019. "External Effects of the War in Ukraine: The Impact on the Price of Oil in the Short-term," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(2), pages 267-276.
    12. Bougias, Alexandros & Episcopos, Athanasios & Leledakis, George N., 2022. "Valuation of European firms during the Russia–Ukraine war," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    13. Toan Luu Duc Huynh & Tobias Burggraf, 2020. "If worst comes to worst: Co-movement of global stock markets in the US-China trade war," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 21-30.
    14. Yousaf, Imran & Patel, Ritesh & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2022. "The reaction of G20+ stock markets to the Russia–Ukraine conflict “black-swan” event: Evidence from event study approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International conflicts; War; Stock market reaction; News analysis; Behavioral finance; G11; G14; G19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G19 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Other

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