Unconventional monetary policy and stock market prices in a small open economy: Evidence from Sweden’s quantitative easing

Abstract: This thesis aims to investigate the long-term behaviour of the Swedish stock market under quantitative easing (QE) between the years 2015-2019 in comparison to an equally long period before the implementation of QE. The relationship is analysed within the framework of transmission channels of monetary policy and with considerations for previous research on the topic. By the means of an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, we conduct a regression analysis using the price level of the OMX Stockholm 30 (OMXS30), the value of Riksbank’s assets, the short-term interest rate and the industrial production index. The results show significant but weak evidence of a positive relationship between the OMXS30 index and the Riksbank’s assets value. Furthermore, we analyse the findings to provide an insight into the transmission of unconventional monetary policy to the stock market in a small open economy. Finally, we present some broad implications of our study, as well as suggestions for future research on the topic.