Financial Markets and International Risk Sharing

Panel analysis of 21 industrial countries shows evidence for pro-cyclicality of capital gains on domestic stock markets over a medium term horizon. Thus, with cross-border ownership of portfolio equity investments, potential for hedging against domestic output fluctuations by means of the capital gains channel of foreign liabilities is found. Individual country analysis reveals substantial heterogeneity of cyclicality patterns. Evidence suggests that this cross-country variation can be explained by the level of economic development and the size of financial markets.