The solar and lunar divide and the impact on Taiwan’s stock returns

Abstract

Under the influence of the western world, the solar New Year celebration seems to have fascinated everyone in Taiwan with the lunar New Year festivity showing much less vigor. This paper examines the impact of the solar and lunar New Years on the stock market of Taiwan, showing that the lunar effect outshines the solar one, but the magnitude is decreasing for both as the years go by. In addition, this effect is more significant in the year of horse.

Keywords

• event study
• lunar/solar new year
• stock market
• traditions