FINANCIAL MARKET INTEGRATION OF ASEAN-5 WITH CHINA: AN ECONOPHYSICS APPROACH

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to estimate whether portfolio diversification is feasible in the financial markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand (ASEAN-5), and the market of China, in the context of the stock market crash in China in 2015. The purpose is to answer two questions, namely whether: (i) has the stock market crash in China increased financial integration in the ASEAN-5 financial markets and China? (ii) If the presence of long memories may put in question the diversification of portfolios? The results suggest that these markets are segmented, except for Malaysia/Singapore, bi-directional, and China/Filipinas, pre-crash. However, when analysing the stock market crash period, the results indicate 16 integrated market pairs with structure breakdown (in 30 possible). When compared with the previous sub-period it was found that during the stock market crash the level of financial integration increased significantly (533%). In the post-crash period, there were right integrated market pairs with broken structure. When compared to the crash period, the level of integration decreased in 50%. In addition, we observed that during the stock market crash these Asian markets did not have long memories, except for the Malaysian market, which reveals some predictability, that is, the increase in integration does not lead to persistence in these Asian markets. In conclusion, the ASEAN-5 markets and China mostly exhibit strong signs of efficiency in their weak form. The authors consider that the implementation of portfolio diversification strategies is beneficial for investors. These conclusions also open space for market regulators to take action to ensure better information between these regional markets and international markets.