Macroeconomic factors affecting the operating performance of alternative markets for SMEs

DOI: 10.5716/978-981-08-9514-3_MME21

Authors: Tang Y.N. Gordon and Wong Y. T. Alvin

Abstract:

Due to the booming of dot.com stocks in late 1990's, several stock exchanges have launched their alternative markets for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, after the burst of the dot.com bubble, some of these alternative markets have recorded substantial decline in the number of listing and turnover. Besides, some existing literature mentioned that small firms may differ from large companies in areas suc as financing patterns (e.g. Beck et al, 2008) Hence, there is a need to study whether the factors affecting the operating performance of main markets have similar or different influences on stock markets for SMEs.
This research aims to explore the factors that affect the operating performance of alternative markets. Macroeconomic factors under study include GDP, interest rates, level of economic freedom (consists of monetary policy, fiscal burden and other components)