ABSTRACT
Asian stock markets have undergone enormous transformation in both scale and scope over the last decade. Led by privatization and initial public offerings (IPOs), Asia-Pacific stock markets in aggregate increased in US dollar terms by nearly 150% in the period 2005–2015. Collectively, their combined value exceeded USD 23.2 trillion by the end of 2015. By comparison, over the same period, stock markets worldwide increased 64.1% to USD 68.1 trillion, while in the US and Europe increases were only 47.5% and 31.2%, with market capitalization now at levels of USD 25.1 trillion and USD 15.9 trillion, respectively.
