We use multivariate regime switching vector autoregressive models to characterize the time-varying linkages among the Irish stock market, one of the top world performers of the 1990s, and the US and UK stock markets. We find that two regimes, characterized as bear and bull states, are required...

This paper presents evidence of persistent `bull' and `bear' regimes in UK stock returns and considers their economic implications from the perspective of an investor's portfolio decisions. We find that the perceived state probability has a large effect on the optimal allocation to stocks,...