Job insecurity,employability and health: an analysis for Germany across generations

In this article, we use 12 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) to examine the relationship between job insecurity, employability and health-related well-being. Our results indicate that being unemployed has a strong negative effect on life satisfaction and health. They also, however, highlight the fact that this effect is most prominent among individuals over the age of 40. A second observation is that job insecurity is also associated with lower levels of life satisfaction and health, and this association is quite strong. This negative effect of job insecurity is, in many cases, exacerbated by poor employability.     

Backtesting extreme value theory models of expected shortfall

We use stock market data to analyze the quality of alternative models and procedures for forecasting expected shortfall (ES) at different significance levels. We compute ES forecasts from conditional models applied to the full distribution of returns as well as from models that focus on tail events using extreme value theory (EVT). We also apply the semiparametric filtered historical simulation (FHS) approach to ES forecasting to obtain 10-day ES forecasts. At the 10-day horizon we combine FHS with EVT. The performance of the different models is assessed using six different ES backtests recently proposed in the literature. Our results suggest that conditional EVT-based models produce more accurate 1-day and 10-day ES forecasts than do non-EVT based models. Under either approach, asymmetric probability distributions for return innovations tend to produce better forecasts. Incorporating EVT in parametric or semiparametric approaches also improves ES forecasting performance. These qualitative results are also valid for the recent crisis period, even though all models then underestimate the level of risk. FHS narrows the range of numerical forecasts obtained from alternative models, thereby reducing model risk. Combining EVT and FHS seems to be best approach for obtaining accurate ES forecasts.     

Monetary Policy,Taylor’s Rule and Instability

We analyse the dynamic behaviour of an economy where the central bank (CB) sets interest rates according to a Taylor‐type policy rule. A simple model for a closed and instability‐prone economy is constructed and subjected to formal dynamical analysis and numerical simulation. It is shown that a requirement for local stability is that the two response coefficients in the policy rule be positive. Similarly, it is shown that raising the response coefficient of the output gap increases the likeliness of the economy being stable, whereas raising the response coefficient of the inflation gap has an uncertain and probably negligible effect on local stability. Self‐sustained oscillations may arise for certain parameter values. Policy mistakes in the estimation of the long‐run equilibrium real interest rate or potential real GDP may prevent the CB from achieving its inflation target. A suggestion for enhancing the stabilization capacity of Taylor‐type policy rules in the context of the model presented is made.     

Regulation and rent‐seeking: The role of the distribution of political and economic power

It is shown that the joint distribution of economic and political power plays a key role in determining regulatory and tax policies of national and subnational governments. If both economic and political power are evenly distributed across individuals, then regulatory and tax policies are efficient, but if they are unevenly distributed and positively correlated, then regulatory policy is used by subnational governments to redistribute income in favor of individuals with higher economic and political power at the expense of productivity and output. Consequently, the national government has to raise the tax rate to finance public expenditure. Moreover, if there exists a positive correlation between economic and political power, then the higher the fiscal gap, the larger the gap between equilibrium and efficient policies because subnational governments underestimate more the fall of public revenues caused by inefficient policies.     

Does unemployment lead to a less healthy lifestyle?

In this article, we use 22 years of data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and information on plant closures to investigate the effects of unemployment on four indicators of unhealthy lifestyles: diet, alcohol consumption, smoking and (a lack of) physical activity. In contrast to much of the existing literature, which unlike our analysis is unable to assess causality, our results provide little evidence that unemployment gives rise to unhealthy lifestyles.     

Estimating liquidity premia in the Spanish government securities market

This paper investigates the presence of liquidity premia in the relative pricing of assets traded on the Spanish government securities market. First, a classification of bonds into four different categories based on their degree of liquidity is proposed. Second, liquidity premia are estimated introducing liquidity parameters in the estimation of the zero-coupon yield curve. Results suggest the existence of a liquidity premium for post-benchmark bonds (both strippable and non-strippable). The size of this premium is relatively small. In the case of pre-benchmark bonds, the lack of liquidity does not seem to be priced. It is also shown that these pricing discrepancies are robust to the impact of taxes on bonds.     

Dynamic capital structure and the contingent capital option

The financial crisis has emphasized the difficulties for financial companies to raise funds through conventional liabilities. In this environment, hybrid securities are becoming popular. In this paper we study the optimal capital structure of a company issuing a particular type of hybrid security: perpetual contingent capital, i.e., debt that converts into equity under some conditions. A two-period model with endogenous bankruptcy for a company with equity, straight debt and contingent capital is analyzed. We investigate the instrument under different conversion rules: automatic or optimally chosen by equity holders. We show that contingent capital reduces the coupon of straight debt and expected bankruptcy costs but can require a high spread. A trigger imposed by the regulatory authority in terms of par value of debt may induce a little use of contingent capital with an increase of bankruptcy costs.     

Pass-through in dollarized countries: should Ecuador abandon the US dollar?

In this article, we examine the convenience of dollarization for Ecuador today. As Ecuador is strongly integrated financially and commercially with the United States, the exchange rate pass-through should be zero. However, we sustain that rising rates of imports from trade partners other than the United States and subsequent real effective exchange rate depreciations are causing the pass-through to move away from zero. Here, in the framework of the Vector Error Correction Model, we analyse the impulse response function and variance decomposition of the inflation variable. We show that the developing economy of Ecuador is importing inflation from its main trading partners, most of them emerging countries with appreciated currencies. We argue that if Ecuador recovered both its monetary and exchange rate instruments, it would be able to fight against inflation. We believe such an analysis could be extended to other countries with pegged exchange rate regimes.     

School completion in urban Latin America: the voices of young people from an informal settlement

Despite progress in improving secondary school completion in Latin America, a high proportion of young people from urban marginalised neighbourhoods continue to drop out. On the basis of in-depth interviews with young people in an informal settlement of the City of Buenos Aires, the paper aims to broaden the understanding of the processes that lead to school dropout in these neighbourhoods. It does so by examining what young people value being and doing, and how they interpret the value of secondary school in their own lives and contexts. The results point to the critical importance of the family in young peoples’ processes of reasoning and decision-making, the complex interaction between capabilities, and the benefits of schools that provide social and emotional support to students and families. The paper argues that listening to the voices of young people can give significant insights for the design of policies to close the gap in education outcomes in segregated urban contexts.