Integration at a cost : evidence from volatility impulse response functions

We investigate the international information transmission between the US and the rest of the G-7 countries using daily stock market return data covering the last 20 years. A split-sample analysis reveals that the linkages between the markets have changed substantially in the recent era (i.e. post-1995 period), suggesting increased interdependence in the volatility of the markets under scrutiny. Our findings based on a volatility impulse response analysis suggest that this interdependence combined with increased persistence in the volatility of all markets make volatility shocks perpetuate for a significantly longer period nowadays compared to the pre-1995 era.