How Do Investment, Fundamentals, and Stock Prices Relate Around the World?

We assemble a novel data set of industry panel data for the corporate sector and the entire economy across a number of countries to explore the connection between investment and stock prices. The link is present in all samples, in both the aggregate and industry dimensions, and increases with stock market development. Fundamentals are less related to prices in underdeveloped markets but are similarly related to investment everywhere. Thus, the active informant interpretation does not seem to be the main force behind the stock market–investment relationship. In addition, industries that are more dependent on equity finance, and where investors are strongest, exhibit higher sensitivity to prices, especially in developed markets.