RDP 2019-04: A History of Australian Equities 3. Conclusion

The Australian equity market has grown over the past century to be one of Australia's most important financial markets. Use of a hand-compiled unit record dataset has allowed us to derive and present several important historical facts about the market. Perhaps most important are the lower historical returns on equity, which have implications for estimates of the equity risk premium in Australia. But the data presented on dividend payouts, industry composition and share valuation also help provide a richer history of the market than was previously available, and it is hoped that all these facts are of use to researchers and practitioners.