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Political Geography and Stock Market Volatility: The Role of Political Alignment across Sentiment Regimes

Author

Listed:
  • Oguzhan Cepni

    (Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics, Porcelaenshaven 16A, Frederiksberg DK-2000, Denmark; Ostim Technical University, Ankara, Turkiye)

  • Riza Demirer

    (Department of Economics and Finance, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62026-1102, USA)

  • Rangan Gupta

    (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa)

  • Christian Pierdzioch

    (Department of Economics, Helmut Schmidt University, Holstenhofweg 85, P.O.B. 700822, 22008 Hamburg, Germany)

Abstract

This paper extends the literature on the nexus between political geography and financial markets to the stock market volatility context by examining the interrelation between political geography and the predictive relation between the state- and aggregate-level stock market volatility via recently constructed measures of political alignment. Using monthly data for the period from February 1994 to March 2023 and a machine learning technique called random forests, we show that the importance of the state-level realized stock market volatilities as a driver of aggregate stock market volatility displays considerable cross- sectional dispersion as well as substantial variation over time, with the state of New York playing a prominent role. Further analysis shows that stronger political alignment of a state with the ruling party is associated with a lower contribution of the state's realized volatility to aggregate stock market volatility, highlighting the role of risk effects associated with the political geography of firms. Finally, we show that the negative link between the political alignment of a state and the importance of that state's realized volatility over aggregate stock market volatility is statistically significant during high-sentiment periods, but weak and statistically insignificant during low-sentiment periods, underscoring the role of investor sentiment for the nexus between political geography and financial markets. Our findings presents new insight to the risk-based arguments that associate political geography with stock market dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Oguzhan Cepni & Riza Demirer & Rangan Gupta & Christian Pierdzioch, 2024. "Political Geography and Stock Market Volatility: The Role of Political Alignment across Sentiment Regimes," Working Papers 202414, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:pre:wpaper:202414
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Stock market volatility; Random forests; Political alignment; Investor sentiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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