The Role of Geographical Diversification in Global Capital Markets

Abstract

This study illustrates the effectiveness of geographical diversification using capital market data. The paper uses historical capital market prices to show how the neglect of geographical diversification results in a deterioration in investment decision-making. In addition, the correlations between the capital markets of the former socialist countries are presented, which in many cases can be explained by real economic processes and geopolitical events. Quantitative, real-time financial and statistical data provided by capital markets can also be used to justify the dependence systems between countries and groups of countries, but the method can also be used in many cases to show the economic and geopolitical changes between countries. The study shows how concentrated the world’s stock markets are, which means that smaller capital markets cannot separate themselves from economic events, money and capital market news, or events of the largest ones.