tailieunhanh - DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND

North Korea’s centrifuge program poses both a horizontal and a vertical proliferation threat. It is an avenue for North Korea to increase the number and sophistication of its nuclear weapons and for it to proliferate to others who seek to build their own centrifuge programs. As a result, the priority is finding ways to either stop the program or to delay its progress through a combination of negotiations and sanctions. Procurement data obtained by governments and information from Pakistan, establish that North Korea is developing centrifuges. However, determining the centrifuge program’s status and the locations . | DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Piety and Profits Stock Market Anomaly during the Muslim Holy Month Jedrzej Bialkowski Ahmad Etebari and Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski WORKING PAPER No. 52 2010 Department of Economics and Finance College of Business and Economics University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800 Christchurch New Zealand Piety and Profits Stock Market Anomaly during the Muslim Holy Month Jedrzej Bialkowski Ahmad Etebari Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski ABSTRACT Observed by more than billion Muslims Ramadan is one of the most celebrated religious rituals in the world. We investigate stock returns during Ramadan for 14 predominantly Muslim countries over the years 1989-2007. The results show that stock returns during Ramadan are almost nine times higher and less volatile than during the rest of the year. No discernible difference in trading volume is recorded. We find these results consistent with a notion that Ramadan positively affects investor psychology as it promotes feelings of solidarity and social identity among Muslims world-wide leading to optimistic beliefs that extend to investment decisions. JEL Classifications G12 G14 Keywords Ramadan Effect Behavioral Finance Market Efficiency Religion The authors would like to thank the Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand Inc. for awarding this study the best paper prize in the investment category and MSCI Barra for providing useful data. We are also grateful to Warwick Anderson Henk Berkman Magdalena Bialkowska Glenn Boyle Stephen Ciccone Eric Crampton Timothy Falcon Crack Mehrun Etebari Aaron Gilbert Robin Grieves Ben Jacobsen Jayant Kale Brendan Lambe Warren McNoe Philip Meguire Debra and Bob Reed participants of the 14th New Zealand Finance Colloquium and the Finance and Corporate Governance Conference at the La Trobe University as well as the seminars attendees at the University of New Hampshire University of Otago .