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iShares and the US Market Risk Exposure
Author(s) -
Phengpis Chanwit,
Swanson Peggy E.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of business finance and accounting
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.282
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1468-5957
pISSN - 0306-686X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5957.2009.02150.x
Subject(s) - diversification (marketing strategy) , orthogonalization , market risk , economics , financial economics , econometrics , monetary economics , business , algorithm , marketing , computer science
Previous researchers find that country iShares are directly and strongly exposed to US market risk in addition to home country market risk. This finding contradicts the fact that by design these iShares should behave as their underlying market indices behave. With monthly data and the appropriate orthogonalization choice, we find that direct US market risk exposure is weaker, less significant and less prevalent than previously suggested. Further tests indicate that in fact a strong majority of country iShares do not behave significantly differently from their underlying market indices. Hence, they are not less effective as diversification instruments to US investors than direct investments in the foreign markets as represented by their underlying market indices.