Two targets,two instruments: Monetary and exchange rate policies in emerging market economies

This paper examines the case for using two instruments—the policy interest rate and sterilized foreign exchange market intervention—in emerging market countries seeking to stabilize inflation and output while attenuating disequilibrium currency movements. We estimate policy reaction functions for central banks, documenting that indeed both instruments tend to be deployed. We show that whether discretionary monetary policy or inflation targeting is preferable depends on the volatility of shocks relative to the central bank's time inconsistency problem. The use of FX intervention as a second instrument improves welfare under both regimes, but more so under inflation targeting. Overall, a regime of (two-way) sterilized intervention-cum-inflation targeting can result in better outcomes in the presence of imperfect capital mobility/asset substitutability—yielding similar gains to a discretionary policy while still delivering the inflation target.     

时变概率的区制转换泰勒规则设计及其“稳定器”作用机制研究

本文将传统泰勒规则发展为具有时变转换概率的马尔科夫区制转换泰勒规则,基于Kim(2004)以两步MLE方法估计了该货币政策规则,并证明了其稳定器作用。研究发现:(1)货币政策中规则性成分的稳定器作用存在非对称性,在区制一内,规则性成分不存在稳定器作用,在区制二内,规则性成分有较强稳定器作用;(2)货币政策中相机抉择成分可以影响各区制的自我演化概率,在进行相机抉择逆周期调控的同时,又可以引导经济系统转向规则性成分有稳定器作用的区制。文章最后根据该货币政策规则的稳定器作用机制给出货币政策操作模式,在经济增长放缓时期,中央银行应该以增大基础货币增长和宽松型窗口指导为直接操作工具,以短期名义利率为中间目标;在经济高涨时期,中央银行应该以提高直接标价法的中美汇率水平和上调存款准备金率为直接操作工具,以短期名义利率为中间目标。     

做市商制度与中国外汇市场的微观运行

内容交易制度对金融市场的运行质量会产生直接的影响。本文通过对实施做市商制度前后我国外汇市场运行的分析,发现实行做市商制度后,我国外汇市场的流动性和市场效率都有所提高,美元/人民币的即期汇率波动虽然较以前增大,但依然处于比较稳定的状态,适应增强人民币汇率弹性的要求。     

The ‘laissez faire’ bias of managed floating

The government of a small open economy trying to manage its exchange rate faces a ‘time consistency’ problem. If markets expect implementation of the optimal linear intervention rule, the government will be tempted to ‘defect’: knowing this, markets will expect less activism; and, in the discretionary equilibrium, this is what they get. How far this credibility problem can shift discretionary policy towards a free float is shown in two popular models of floating rates. One way of offsetting the ‘laissez faire’ bias of discretionary policy is to appoint a relatively ‘conservative’ central banker: but, as the time period of policy action and precommitment shrinks towards zero, the required conservative bias is found to go towards infinity. Other institutional features — such as central bank reputation, contracts and intermediate targets — may be crucial for successful exchange rate management.     

夯实做市商制度建设协力推进外汇市场发展

近年来,外汇市场汇价波幅逐步有序拓宽,而面对不断扩大的汇率波幅,一些做市机构的交易员出现了不适应的情况。文章指出,外汇做市商制度的切实履行和健全完善,对于规范做市交易与市场良性交易氛围的形成和推广,具有至关重要的作用。文章介绍了我国外汇市场建立做市商制度的目的、所采取的相关配套制度改革,展望做市商考评机制的改进方向,并就进一步规范外汇市场发展提出相关倡议。     

International dimensions of optimal monetary policy

This paper provides a baseline general equilibrium model of optimal monetary policy among interdependent economies with monopolistic firms and nominal rigidities. An inward-looking policy of domestic price stabilization is not optimal when firms’ markups are exposed to currency fluctuations. Such a policy raises exchange rate volatility, leading foreign exporters to charge higher prices vis-à-vis increased uncertainty in the export market. As higher import prices reduce the purchasing power of domestic consumers, optimal monetary rules trade off a larger domestic output gap against lower consumer prices. Optimal rules in a world Nash equilibrium lead to less exchange rate volatility relative to both inward-looking rules and discretionary policies, even when the latter do not suffer from any inflationary (or deflationary) bias. Gains from international monetary cooperation are related in a non-monotonic way to the degree of exchange rate pass-through.     

Discount rate changes and the foreign exchange market

Changes in the discount rate can have associated announcement effects on the foreign exchange value of the dollar only if these changes are not anticipated by the market. This paper provides evidence to support this contention. Specifically, discount rate changes made for reasons other than technical adjustments have not been anticipated fully and, consequently, their announcements have had a significant impact on the dollar's exchange rate. Furthermore, results are obtained that support the hypothesis that unanticipated discount rate changes alter inflationary expectations.     

US ADR and Hong Kong H-share discounts of Shanghai-listed firms

This paper examines the differential between the share prices of Chinese securities traded on their home market of Shanghai versus prices observed offshore in New York and Hong Kong. The discounts attached to Chinese securities, whether trading as ADRs on the NYSE or as H-shares on the Hong Kong market, appear to have been significantly influenced by changes in both exchange rate expectations and investor sentiment during 1998–2006. Expected exchange rate changes alone account for approximately 40% of the total variation in each case. This is combined with large cross-sectional variation, however, reflecting additional significant market-wide and company-specific sentiment effects.     

Does the law of one price hold better under a flexible exchange rate system?

Using China's recent exchange rate system reform as a special event, we investigate two issues pertinent to the change in the exchange rate system: how the documented price discounts on Chinese foreign shares (B- and H-shares) changed after China shifted to a more flexible exchange rate system; and what potential factors contributed to such changes. We find significant increases in foreign share discounts after the reform and these increases cannot be explained by the changes in stock risk, information asymmetry or market liquidity. Our results provide evidence that investor expectation on long-run RMB appreciation and investor attitude toward exchange rate risk under a more flexible exchange rate system contribute to the observed increases in foreign share discounts following the reform.     

Time-varying risk attitude and the foreign exchange market behavior

This paper presents a heterogeneous agents model of the foreign exchange market in which agents’ risk attitudes vary over time due to psychological factors emphasized in prospect theory. We find that psychological component and risk-profit elasticity play significant roles in exchange rate expectations formation and investment behavior. Although all agents show more risk-averse after the crisis, the extent to which their risk attitude responds to the crisis varies due to heterogeneous forecasting rules as well as the changes of trading environment and central bank intervention. Moreover, time-varying risk attitudes can help explain the forward premium puzzle. These findings have implications for the exchange rate expectation formation theories and foreign exchange market stability policies.     

Working Orders in Limit Order Markets and Floor Exchanges

We analyze limit order markets and floor exchanges, assuming an informed trader and discretionary liquidity traders use market orders and can either submit block orders or work their demands as a series of small orders. By working their demands, large market order traders pool with small traders. We show that every equilibrium on a floor exchange must involve at least partial pooling. Moreover, there is always a fully pooling (worked order) equilibrium on a floor exchange that is equivalent to a block order equilibrium in a limit order market.     

人民币实际汇率波动的价格传递效应研究——基于贸易收支的视角

自2005年汇率制度改革以来,人民币汇率发生了深刻的变化。文章使用2005年-2013年间的月度数据,通过建立计量模型,以人民币实际有效汇率和实际收入水平为解释变量,进出口贸易额为被解释变量,实证分析了人民币汇率变动对我国贸易收支的影响。研究结果表明,人民币汇率变动与进出口贸易额和实际收入水平具有长期的协整关系,而且人民币实际有效汇率对进出口贸易额的影响只存在统计上的单项因果关系。     

企业生产效率异质性、汇率传递与净出口

汇率波动的价格传递以及对国际收支的影响与传统的理解存在差异。汇率波动如果影响了市场结构和企业生产效率分布,那么汇率传递具有长期效应。决定贸易顺差的关键因素是国内外市场需求特征和国内外相对生产成本的大小,汇率波动影响物价、贸易收支的大小取决于生产企业的效率分布状况和市场结构。     

Dynamical clustering of exchange rates

We use techniques from network science to study correlations in the foreign exchange (FX) market during the period 1991–2008. We consider an FX market network in which each node represents an exchange rate and each weighted edge represents a time-dependent correlation between the rates. To provide insights into the clustering of the exchange-rate time series, we investigate dynamic communities in the network. We show that there is a relationship between an exchange rate's functional role within the market and its position within its community and use a node-centric community analysis to track the temporal dynamics of such roles. This reveals which exchange rates dominate the market at particular times and also identifies exchange rates that experienced significant changes in market role. We also use the community dynamics to uncover major structural changes that occurred in the FX market. Our techniques are general and will be similarly useful for investigating correlations in other markets.     

人民币国际化路径与上海国际金融中心建设

国际货币的标准已经改变,未来标准不仅是要有强大的经济实力为基础,而且要有发达金融市场。人民币国际化道路也将会是中国金融市场的发展和国际化道路,以金融市场体系建设为核心的上海国际金融中心建设与人民币国际化进程相互促进、相辅相成。只有在任何时候都能排除外部干扰,适应人民币国际化的要求自主创新、自主发展以人民币为主要产品的金融市场,自主推进人民币汇率利率市场化、完善人民币汇率形成机制。提高央行利用金融市场传导调控货币汇率政策的水平和能力,牢牢掌握人民币国际化进程中人民币产品的定价权和其他控制权．才能使人民币国际化进程有利于维护我国金融安全,促进我国社会经济可持续发展。     

The incidence of earnings management on information asymmetry in an uncertain environment: Some Canadian evidence

In this study, we investigate the association between earnings management and information asymmetry considering environmental uncertainty. Results show that a complex and dynamic environment weakens the relationship between discretionary accruals and information asymmetry measured as share price volatility and bid-ask spread. More specifically, the positive relationship between earnings management and information asymmetry is weakened for diversified firms, those intensively investing in R&D, and those facing high sales volatility. This highlights the difficulty for investors to assess earnings management in an uncertain environment. Finally, in such a context, discretionary accruals are more likely to be detected by investors for firms cross-listed on a U.S. stock exchange, a more liquid and transparent stock market compared with the Canadian stock market.     

对商业银行汇率风险管理问题的思考

伴随着汇率体制改革和中国资本市场的不断开放,汇率风险成为商业银行不得不面对的重要话题.本文对商业银行的汇率风险从基本理论概念、计量方法到管理方法的国内外相关资料进行分类总结,为我国商业银行的汇率风险管理问题提供了有益的思考.     

Audit Quality and the Market Valuation of Banks’ Allowance for Loan Losses*

The recent banking crisis has led market participants to focus on the adequacy and quality of banks’ balance sheet items such as the allowance for loan losses. Beaver and Engel (1996) document that the capital market prices the nondiscretionary component of loan loss allowance negatively and the discretionary component less negatively. Using data from the pre‐crisis period and three measures of audit quality, auditor type (i.e., Big 5 versus non–Big 5), auditor industry specialization/expertise, and audit and nonaudit fees paid to auditors, we examine the effect of audit quality on the market valuation of the discretionary component of the allowance for loan losses. We find that, relative to the nondiscretionary component, the market valuation of the discretionary component of loan loss allowance is higher for banks audited by Big 5 auditors than for banks audited by non–Big 5 auditors. We also find that the relative market valuation of the discretionary component of loan loss allowance is increasing in auditor expertise. Regarding the impact of fees paid to auditors, we find that banks paying higher audit fees have higher relative market valuation of the discretionary component of the allowance for loan losses, but banks that pay higher nonaudit fees do not.     

THE EFFECT OF ANALYSTS' FORECASTS ON EARNINGS MANAGEMENT IN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

I test a market consensus hypothesis about earnings management in the banking industry. This hypothesis states that when analysts have reached a consensus in their earnings forecasts, managers have an incentive to manage earnings through discretionary accruals to achieve market expectations. A sample of banks is partitioned based on the degree of forecaster consensus, and the behavior of one discretionary accrual, the loan loss provision, is predicted for each partition. The results suggest bank managers make greater use of the loan loss provision to manipulate earnings in a discretionary manner when analysts have reached a consensus in their earnings predictions.     

The market microstructure approach to foreign exchange: Looking back and looking forward

Research on foreign exchange market microstructure stresses the importance of order flow, heterogeneity among agents, and private information as crucial determinants of short-run exchange rate dynamics. Microstructure researchers have produced empirically-driven models that fit the data surprisingly well. But FX markets are evolving rapidly in response to new electronic trading technologies. Transparency has risen, trading costs have tumbled, and transaction speed has accelerated as new players have entered the market and existing players have modified their behavior. These changes will have profound effects on exchange rate dynamics. Looking forward, we highlight fundamental yet unanswered questions on the nature of private information, the impact on market liquidity, and the changing process of price discovery. We also outline potential microstructure explanations for long-standing exchange rate puzzles.