What Explains the Size of Sovereign Wealth Funds? A Panel Analysis (2008-2018)

This paper empirically investigates the economic correlates of the size of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF). We exploit a panel of 28 SWFs for the period 2008-2018. Findings highlight that: (i) GDP is positively associated with the size of the SWF so confirming that richer countries have larger SWFs; (ii) there is a positive association between the size of SWFs and the Down Jones index; (iii) There is a negative association with the existence of an internal armed conflict; (iv) there is a positive association between globalization and the size of SWFs