Exchange rate pass-through at the individual product level: Implications for financial market integration

Global and regional integration of financial markets with enhanced international monetary transactions between economic agents increases the exchange rate risk. As this obstacle is growing at speed, market integration should be developed with a view to avoid this risk. In this study, we investigate exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) to examine who takes this risk. Specifically, we estimate the degree of ERPT for individual products by using primary auction price data of used/second-hand construction machinery purchased in Japan and then exported to Thailand for resale. Our empirical analysis of these data at the individual product level enables us to avoid bias in estimating ERPT caused by the use of aggregated data. We find that ERPT is asymmetric and changes in exchange rates are reflected in baht-denominated resale prices only when the baht appreciates against the yen. This indicates that raising resale prices in the destination market is more difficult for the exporters than lowering them, meaning that they can suffer significantly from the exchange rate risk. This paper serves as a reference for a safer financial market by learning how market players are influenced by the exchange rate in a trade market with a unique dataset.     

住房按揭贷款逾期风险及其管理探析

随着商业银行的住房按揭贷款业务总量的迅速增加,住房按揭贷款逾期风险已成为商业银行在住房按揭贷款管理中经常遇到的重要信用风险之一。在回顾国内外有关住房按揭贷款逾期风险研究的理论基础上,建立Logistic函数回归模型,应用因子分析、判别分析等技术,剖析了影响住房按揭贷款产生逾期风险的因素,并对商业银行的正常与逾期按揭贷款样本进行了计量分析,提出了加强住房按揭贷款逾期风险预警管理的对策建议。     

Credit rationing, race, and the mortgage market

This study applies microdata from the 1983 Survey of Consumer Finances to evaluate the effects of borrower race and default risk in mortgage lending. The empirical analysis is based on a probit model of whether borrowers obtain FHA or conventional mortgages; the former are fully insured and are characterized by easier downpayment constraints, but are typically more expensive. Hence, households borrowing through the FHA will tend to be credit constrained in the conventional market. Results of the analysis indicate that variables which proxy lender concerns about default risk and cost have an important effect on the type of loan borrowers obtain. Empirical estimates also suggest that minority households are significantly less likely to obtain conventional financing than whites, even after controlling for various proxies of default risk. These results suggest that race effects in mortgage lending may persist for reasons unrelated to borrower default risk.     

Default risk and private student loans: Implications for higher education policies

In recent years, the proportion of students facing a binding constraint on government student loans has grown. This has led to substantially increased use of private loans as a supplementary source of finance for households׳ higher education investment. A critical aspect of the private market for student loans is that loan terms must reflect students׳ risk of default. College investment will therefore differ from a world in which government student loans, whose terms are not sensitive to credit risk, are expanded to no longer bind. Moreover, beyond simply crowding out private lending, expansions of the government student loan program will feed back into default risk on private loans. The goal of this paper is to provide a quantitative assessment of the likely effects of the private market for student loans on college enrollment. We build a model of college investment that reflects uninsured idiosyncratic risk and a well-defined life-cycle that is consistent with observed borrowing and default behavior across family income and college preparedness. We find that higher government borrowing limits increase college investment but lead to more default in the private market for student loans, while tuition subsides increase college investment and reduce default rates in the private market. Consequently, higher limits on government student loans have small negative welfare effects, while tuition subsidies increase aggregate welfare.     

品牌集中度及其度量模型研究

市场集中度是描述市场结构特征的重要指标,它是从厂商角度对市场份额、业务规模等经济指标进行度量的,但它是一种静态指标,无法揭示不同品牌定位的厂商策略行为以及市场结构的动态演变。在引入品牌因素构建简单的品牌集中度模型及从消费者选择角度对市场结构的特征和演变进行分析后发现,厂商的市场份额与品牌需求强度系数呈同方向变动,与品型需求系数呈同方向变动,与价格呈反方向变动,与品牌信用度呈同方向变动;而且品牌信用度愈大,品牌集中度也愈高。中国电冰箱行业的市场结构特征和演进的实证分析显示,该模型具有较强的现实解释力。     

Should we worry about the decline of the public corporation? A brief survey of the economics and external effects of the stock market

In recent years, the number of listed companies has been declining in many countries across the world. This paper provides a selective survey of the literature on the real economic effects of the stock market to assess the potential effects of this decline and determine whether it is likely to continue. The leading economic role of the stock market’s primary market, in which firms raise capital by issuing new shares, is to help growing firms secure financing. We discuss providing and certifying information, coordinating investors, and easing the redeployment of capital as the means through which capital allocation can be efficiently achieved. The main economic roles of the stock market’s secondary market, the trade in existing shares, is to provide liquidity to shareholders, to aid in price discovery and to provide diversification opportunities. Positive external effects from an active stock market may arise for consumers, labor and private firms due to increased corporate investment, more socially responsible business strategies and a more positive business climate. Negative external effects on capital allocation and productivity can arise from short-termism, market mispricing, and increased cross-ownership. Local stock markets can spur innovation and foreign direct investment (FDI) and reduce the risk of early cross-border acquisitions. Given the myriad of useful economic functions the stock market performs, a future entirely absent of public companies is difficult to imagine and the decline is therefore likely at some point to come to an end. Whether we need to worry about the decline depends on the relative importance of the positive and negative external effects, a topic we feel warrants more research.     

基于MCLP模型的个人住房抵押贷款违约风险研究

个人住房抵押贷款一旦出现大规模的违约便会对金融体系的稳定和宏观经济的平稳运行带来很大的负面影响。通过对我国商业银行个人住房抵押贷款真实数据进行分析,分离出可能对贷款履约产生影响的个人基本情况、个人信用状况以及贷款合约等15项指标。在此基础上,使用MCLP模型构建了个人住房抵押贷款违约风险模型,并比较了MCLP模型与传统Logistic模型的预测结果,发现前者具有更高的准确度。最后,基于研究结论提出了相关建议。     

Spatial dependence in microfinance credit default

Credit scoring model development is very important for the lending decisions of financial institutions. The creditworthiness of borrowers is evaluated by assessing their hard and soft information. However, microfinance borrowers are very sensitive to a local economic downturn and extreme (weather or climate) events. Therefore, this paper is devoted to extending the standard credit scoring models by taking into account the spatial dependence in credit risk. We estimate a credit scoring model with spatial random effects using the distance matrix based on the borrowers’ locations. We find that including the spatial random effects improves the ability to predict defaults and non-defaults of both individual and group loans. Furthermore, we find that several loan characteristics and demographic information are important determinants of individual loan default but not group loans. Our study provides valuable insights for professionals and academics in credit scoring for microfinance and rural finance.     

Geopolitical risk and stock market volatility in emerging markets: A GARCH – MIDAS approach

In this study, we examine the connection between geopolitical risk (GPR) and stock market volatility in emerging economies. Our motivation for this study is premised on the need to assess both the predictability and the associated economic gains in relation to the subject in order to offer more useful insights to investors and practitioners. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that jointly considers these objectives. Consequently, we employ the GARCH-MIDAS framework which accommodates mixed data frequencies thereby circumventing information loss or any associated bias. We find that emerging stock market volatility responds more positively to geopolitical risks although the act-related GPR index offers better out-of-sample forecasts than the threat-related GPR. We also find that accounting for global economic factors in the predictability analysis is crucial for robust outcomes. Finally, we provide some utility gains of including GPR in the predictive model of stock market volatility while also highlighting some useful implications of our findings for investment and policy decisions.     

Heterogeneity in bank pricing policies: The Czech evidence

We estimate the pass-through from market interest rates to bank interest rates using heterogeneous panel cointegration techniques to address heterogeneity at the bank level in the Czech Republic. The results indicate heterogeneity in bank pricing in the short, but not in the long term. Mortgage rates and firm rates typically adjust to money market changes, but often less than fully in the long run. Large corporate loans have a smaller mark-up than small loans. Consumer rates have a high mark-up and do not exhibit a cointegration relationship with money market rates even in the long run. Next, we examine how bank characteristics determine the nature of interest rate pass-through in a cross-section of Czech banks. We find evidence for relationship lending, as banks with a stable pool of deposits smooth interest rates and require a higher spread as compensation. Large banks are not found to price their products less competitively. Greater credit risk increases vulnerability to money market shocks.     

Credit risk pricing and the rationality of lending decision-making within dual banking systems: A parametric approach

The reduction of non-performing loans, and making correct provisions for them, plays a primary role in the management and minimization of banking credit risk. However, these actions depend primarily upon the cost at which banks may dispose of these bad loans. Hence, this study aims to perceive the price of banks’ credit risk via estimating the shadow price of non-performing loans. We assess and compare the perceived price of the credit risk of Islamic and conventional banks operating in 9 countries from the Middle East and Asia, using a quadratic directional distance function. Following this, we evaluate the impact of different settings of directional vectors on shadow prices by conducting a risk-sensitivity analysis. Applying bootstrap regression, the factors affecting NPLs’ prices are further investigated. The paper concludes that the estimation of the shadow prices of bad loans can provide important elements in favor of credit risk management and, therefore, credit risk mitigation.     

基金股票仓位与A股市场走势相关性研究

在划分股市牛熊周期的基础上,采用VECM模型和VAR方法对基金股票仓位变动与股票市场走势之间关系进行研究,结果表明基金股票仓位与股票市场收益率二者之间的关系存在着显著性和非稳定性,即基金作为主要机构投资者对股票市场的走势具有重要影响作用,而在股市的各个不同阶段,基金持仓比例的波动与A股指数收益率二者之间的关系各不相同。     

个人住房按揭贷款提前偿付风险研究

住房按揭贷款在国内银行的资产中正占据着越来越重要的地位,与此同时,按揭贷款的提前偿付行为也困扰着银行业的经营。本文分析了影响住房按揭贷款提前还款的主要因素,尝试建立一个符合我国目前状况的能够预测提前还款模型框架,同时提出我国商业银行个人住房按揭贷款提前还款风险管理的一些策略建议。     

THE ECONOMICS OF COMMUTING AND THE URBAN LABOUR MARKET

ABSTRACT. The spatial distribution of households and firms, or urban spatial structure, is a core element of the study of urban economics and the crucial determinant of commuting patterns. This paper examines developments in the analysis of urban spatial structure and commuting are related to the urban labour market—that is the analysis of labour supply and labour demand in a spatial context. These developments have been overlooked in the traditional approach to urban structure and commuting where most attention has been devoted to the markets for land and housing rather than the market for labour. Yet a little reflection suggests that the labour market might have a great deal to do with the location decisions of households and firms, and hence with commuting patterns. We argue that much criticism of the economic analysis of urban structure and commuting can be addressed by explicit incorporation of the labour market into the conventional model of urban location. This criticism includes findings that the theory cannot explain the tendency for richer households to live farther from the central business district and commute farther to work (Wheaton, 1977) and findings of substantial unexplained or 'wasteful' commuting according to conventional theory (Hamilton, 1982). The paper begins by outlining the basic model of residential location and commuting (Section 2). We then consider extensions that involve the introduction of labour supply decisions and which determine the value of commuting time (Section 3). More recent extensions involve the introduction of decentralized workplaces (Section 4) and, logically, the issues of job search and migration (Section 5). We conclude with a summary of the progress in incorporating labour market behaviour into the analysis of urban structure and commuting and our suggestions for further research in this area.     

Residential mortgage default: Theory works and so does policy

Using a national loan level data set we examine loan default as explained by local demographic characteristics and state level legislation that regulates foreclosure procedures and predatory lending, using a hierarchical linear model. When controlling for loan and local conditions, we observe significant variation in the default rate across states, with lower default levels in states with higher temporal and financial costs to lenders. State level legislative influences provide a foundation for discussion of national level policy that further regulates predatory lending and financial institution foreclosure activities.     

Raising the bar (9)

ABSTRACT

This editorial summarizes the papers published in issue 13(4) so as to raise the bar in applied spatial economic research and highlight new trends. The first paper develops an economic geography model with trade costs in all sectors and different shares of unskilled labour in all locations. The second paper translates an economic geography model into a dynamic spatial econometric model and then estimates the unknown parameters to test for congestion spillover effects among Chinese cities. The following paper also investigates spillover effects, but of sovereign and banking risks across countries. The fourth paper empirically examines if a higher market potential results in higher average productivity and lower productivity dispersion of Italian retailers. The fifth paper demonstrates that modelling more than one spatial lag in the independent variables, using different specifications of the spatial weight matrix, can be used as a tool to correct for an omitted variable bias. The final paper develops a test for the existence of non-parametric non-linearities in a linear spatial econometric model.     

Regional development and sources of superior performance across textile and IT sectors in Taiwan

The rapid growth and industrialization of Taiwan's textile and IT sectors, mainly comprised of small and medium-sized enterprises, has prompted an array of explanations among academics, including neoliberalism, structural-institutionalism, flying geese patterns, regional networks and economic geography. Drawing on neoliberal, structural-institutional, regional networking and economic geographic views in that strong Taiwanese entrepreneurial culture is important to its textile and IT sector development, this study shares their positive perspectives in influencing the sources of profitability differentials among Taiwan's textile and IT firms in international competitiveness. Researchers investigating the sources of performance differences among firms have focused mainly on the relative importance of industry and firm factors. Specifically, this study employs Taiwan's business database to examine industry and firm effects on profitability differentials in these sectors using return on assets and the economic performance measures of economic value added and market value added. A variance components model is proposed, and findings indicate that firm effects dominate performance while industry effects have little impact. Our discussion reconciles results with those of previous studies.     

The effect of domestic and foreign risks on an emerging stock market: A time series analysis

This study investigates the effect of domestic factors – economic, financial and political risk – and foreign factors – global economic policy uncertainty – on the stock market index in Taiwan. To achieve the objective of this study, ARDL, DOLS and Markov Switching tests are employed. Quarterly data is used, covering the period 1997Q1–2015Q2. The findings reveal that the combination of domestic and foreign risk factors has a long-term effect on the stock market index. In addition, declining economic, political and financial risks are associated with the increasing stock market index in Taiwan.     

Analyst Herding and Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from China

We examine the proposition that firms with disproportionately more analysts herding in their coverage, as measured by a larger herding index value, have higher crash risk. Our findings are consistent with the main proposition. The results suggest that information production, rather than monitoring, is the primary mechanism behind the positive relation between herding and crash risk. Our conclusion is robust to different measures of crash risk, crash risk windows, herding measures, subsamples, and instrumental estimation. In addition, using post‐earnings announcement drift, we report that analyst herding slows down bad news transmission in the market. Our findings extend the literature by documenting that analyst herding plays a role in enhancing crash risk. Analyst herding has economic consequences on the covered firms. We offer support for the concern in the literature regarding analyst herding and market fluctuations.     

Ubiquitous inequality: The home market effect in a multicountry space

We show that spatial inequalities in an economic space of multiple countries in terms of both nominal income and real income are ubiquitous in the sense that they appear when countries are differentiated by population only. A new trade theory model is constructed without any freely traded homogeneous good, so that we can examine the home market effect (HME) and the non-monotonic relation between income inequalities and globalization. Meanwhile, there are three HME definitions for a two-country space in terms of firm share, labor wage, and trade pattern. The first two remain applicable in a multicountry space, and they are shown to be equivalent. However, a natural extension of the third is not equivalent.