Abstract:
The goal of this paper is to recognize the dynamics of financial integration across the European stock markets over the last two decades. We investigate two groups of markets: (1) three developed European markets in the U.K., France, and Germany; and (2) three emerging Central and Eastern European markets in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary (CEE-3). The evolution of the integration process is analyzed using a dynamic principal component approach. The index of integration serves as a robust measure of integration. The empirical results reveal that the dynamics of integration across the whole group of markets increased significantly following the CEEC-3's accession to the European Union. An inverted U-shape in the index of integration has been found in this case. Moreover, the average index of integration was significantly different during the Global Financial Crisis compared to the pre-crisis period.