Do Stock Market Development Variables and Economic Growth Variables have a similar Relationship in Different Countries?

This paper examines the relationship between stock market development and economic growth variables in Malaysia and Thailand. We investigated the relationship by using correlation and regression methods for the data from 1988 to 2012 obtained from World Bank data base. Economic growth variables used were gross domestic product and inflation, while stock market development variables were market capitalisation and total value of shares traded. In regression gross domestic product was the dependent variable while market development indicators were independent variables. The result for Malaysia revealed that growth domestic product and market variables have positive increasing trend and positive correlations between them. Inflation was found to have positive correlations with market capitalisation and negative correlation with the total value of shares traded. The regression results show that market capitalisation has positive while the total value of shares traded has negative relationships with gross domestic product. In Thailand gross domestic product and market variables have positive increasing trend and positive correlation. Market variables revealed negative correlations with inflation. The regression results show a positive relationship between market variables and gross domestic product. We found that not all stock market development and economic growth variables show a similar relationship in different countries.