The neighborhood effects of provincial-level stock market participation in China

Abstract

In this paper, different from the previous studies starting from the micro perspective, we address the key question on the neighborhood effects of provincial-level stock market participation in China. By choosing two different measures of participation behaviors, we have found that there exists provincial imbalance in China. Further, by using the spatial panel data models, we investigate the spatial spillover effect of stock market participation between neighboring provinces, and find that participation behaviors of bordering provinces can affect each other directly and indirectly. We also consider some effects from the explanatory variables and find that, (1) per capita GDP has a significantly positive effect on stock market participation; (2) net population inflow has a significantly negative effect.