Political orientation of government and stock market returns

Prior research documented that the US stock prices tend to grow faster during the Democratic than the Republican administrations. This article examines whether stock returns in other countries also depend on the political orientation of the incumbents. An analysis of 24 stock markets and 173 different governments reveals that there are no statistically significant differences in returns between left-wing and right-wing executives. Consequently, international investment strategies based on the political orientation of countries' leadership are likely to be futile.