THE IMPACT OF TERRORISM ON FINANCIAL MARKETS: Evidence from Asia

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of 410 terrorist attacks on the performance of five Asian stock markets. The empirical findings indicate that terrorism has a significant impact on the stock markets. Furthermore, the magnitude of these effects varies with respect to country, attack type, target type and severity of the attacks. In target type, terrorist attacks on business sector and security forces are particularly destructive for the stock markets. Likewise, in attack type, suicide attacks and bomb blasts particularly generate a significant downward movement in the stock markets. Furthermore, the more severe attacks have larger negative impact on market returns.