A new approach for estimating relationships between stock market returns: Evidence of financial integration in the Southeast Asian region

In this chapter we use a new data weighting process to examine the relationships between stock market returns in major Southeast Asian nations. Investigation is then directed to financial integration between those ASEAN countries and the larger Asia-Pacific region. The findings indicate that, after the Asian financial crisis, financial integration has continued in most ASEAN countries and between ASEAN countries and the larger Asia-Pacific region. Such effects can be accounted for by the forgetting factor technique. This new technique will provide revenue managers with a decision-making tool to evaluate some complex underlying relationships which managers cannot comprehend prima facie.