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Fatima Ali

Fatima Ali

Email: fatima.ali@qmul.ac.uk

Project Title

The Cultural Firewall: Do Tight Norms Buffer National Markets from Global Volatility?

 

Project Description

This research project investigates a novel question in international finance: How does a nation's "cultural tightness" influence its vulnerability to foreign stock market shocks?

Cultural tightness refers to the strength of a society's social norms and the strictness of its sanctions for deviant behaviour. It is a deep-rooted, historical characteristic shaped by factors like ecological threats, population density, and the need for social coordination. While traditional financial analysis focuses on economic indicators, this project argues that these cultural factors are crucial for understanding why different countries experience markedly different intensities of cross-border financial spillovers, even when their economic fundamentals are similar.

The central hypothesis is that tight cultures, which promote conformity and structured responses to threats, may act as a shield for their domestic stock markets. This project empirically tests whether nations with higher cultural tightness scores receive fewer spillovers from global market shocks compared to nations with looser, more permissive cultures.

To answer this question, the research employs advanced econometric techniques, specifically a Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregression (TVP-VAR) model, to dynamically measure the direction and intensity of spillovers between markets. By bridging the fields of finance, cross-cultural psychology, and international business, this work aims to establish cultural tightness as a significant and previously overlooked determinant of global stock market spillovers.

 

Supervision

  • 1st Supervisor: Dr Deven Bathia
  • 2nd Supervisor: Professor Sushanta Mallick
  • 3rd Supervisor: Professor Gulnur Yaz Muradoglu

 

Biography

Fatima Ali is a PhD researcher in Financial Management at Queen Mary University of London. Her research focuses on financial spillovers and contagion.

Prior to her doctoral studies, Fatima completed an MBA from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and holds an undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance. She brings over three years of professional experience in marketing and inventory management within the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and IT sectors, providing a practical perspective on complex financial and operational challenges.

 

Publications

Conference Papers

Fatima Ali, Gulnur Muradoglu, Deven Bathia. (2023). "Impact of Covid-19 on Stock Markets: Evidence from Global Contagion" Paper presented at the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Annual Conference, [Portsmouth, UK].

Fatima Ali, Gulnur Muradoglu, Deven Bathia. (2025). "Cultural Tightness: Impact on International Stock Market Spillovers and Contagion" Paper presented at the 18th International Behavioural Finance Working Group (BFWG) Conference, [London, UK].

 

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