The Friday Effect in European Securitized Real Estate Index Returns

This study extends research on the day-of-the-week effect towards European real estate indices. We examine this anomaly for several European securitized real estate index returns between 1990 and 2003. Although the countries under analysis have unique country-specific patterns, we find that eight out of eleven European countries exhibit abnormally high Friday returns. Moreover, two different Europe indices also exhibit the Friday anomaly. The anomaly is robust with respect to extreme observations, alternative specifications and several well-known calendar effects.     

On the distributional effects of exchange rate fluctuations

How do exchange rate movements affect different sectors of an economy? We address this question in a simple general equilibrium model, stressing the different exposures of various sectors to foreign competition, an aspect ignored in earlier contributions. The impact of exchange rate shifts is highly heterogenous across sectors. While a depreciation leads to a substantial competitiveness and welfare gain for agents with a high exposure to foreign competition, agents facing mostly domestic competition are adversely affected.     

Dynamic volatility and external security related shocks: The case of the Athens Stock Exchange

This paper analyses the impact of exogenous national security related shocks on the time-varying volatility structure of the Greek stock market. Alternative autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic models are estimated, in order to identify the best fit that adequately describes return volatility behavior, testing symmetric as well as asymmetric innovation responses. An external national security related shock factor is included as well as a military crisis dummy, in order to depict possible implications for the conditional variance. The empirical findings appear to support a statistically significant impact of both national security related factors on the Athens stock market returns.     

发展中国家的货币错配与汇率制度选择困境

货币错配是诱发发展中国家货币金融危机的一个重要因素,也加大了危机的解决成本。货币错配问题的形成是内外因素双重作用的结果,长期实行的“软”钉住汇率制度是其中的一个重要原因。发展中国家普遍遇到了货币错配与汇率制度选择的两难困境,僵硬的汇率制度为货币错配风险的累积提供了正向激励,加深了货币错配,货币错配程度的加深强化了汇率制度的“浮动恐惧”,必须采取有效措施走出这个困境。     

集体钉住汇率制与地区金融稳定——兼评人民币汇率制度改革

20世纪90年代以来,东亚地区是国际金融比较动荡的地区之一。麦金农主张东亚各经济体实行“集体钉住美元”制度,以保证地区金融稳定。从理论和实践分析,集体钉住汇率制有其内在的稳定机制,也有内源性的动荡缺陷,稳定性和脆弱性同存。目前东亚各国和地区非正式的共同“软钉住美元”,有一定的合理性;但从长远看,这种集体钉住美元制度难以维持。当前人民币汇率改革不会影响东亚地区的金融稳定,维持国内金融稳定,才能防止地区金融动荡。     

外汇储备、外汇交易量与CHIBOR利率的VAR模型(2000～2004)——兼论“三元悖论”下冲销干预与货币政策的独立性

本文以“三元悖论”为切入点,从总量与结构两方面考察当前结售汇制度对商业银行外汇头寸及外汇交易量的影响,进而考察在货币政策时滞的影响下央行冲销干预的效果以及货币政策的独立性。结论认为:我国外汇储备成因中政策性制度安排(结售汇)作用突出,现行结售汇业务导致外汇交易量受到外汇储备的冲击,冲销干预的有效性十分有限且不确定性很强。在CHIBOR利率的波动中,外汇储备和外汇交易量的作用不可忽视,同时外汇交易量的波动中,外汇储备与CHIBOR利率的冲击作用贡献明显,货币政策独立性受到侵蚀。     

经济全球化条件下我国市场结构问题的理论思考和对策建议

经济全球化对我国市场结构的影响集中体现为跨国公司的进入和WTO规则的执行对我国行业中企业之间垄断竞争关系的影响.本文就此对开放条件下我国市场结构有效竞争模式进行理论思考,重点探讨了维护国家经济安全与促进国内市场开放、反对垄断与发展规模经济、促进竞争与防止竞争过度等方面问题,并在此基础上提出优化我国市场结构的政策建议.     

Global sourcing strategy and sustainable competitive advantage

Global sourcing strategy has been one of the most hotly debated management trends in the last 20 years. In its early years, global sourcing was examined mostly from “in-house” development and procurement perspectives; and in the last several years, research focus has shifted to “outsourcing” activities. Along with this shift from internal to external focus on global sourcing, many researchers and business practitioners have applied a core competency argument to justify increased levels of outsourcing activities on a global basis. Although the beneficial aspects of outsourcing are assumed in most cases, no consensus exists in reality as to the effect of outsourcing. Furthermore, the increased instability of the exchange rate environment in the last several years has also led to increased difficulties in managing globally scattered operations that were once fashionable in the 1980s-90s under the rubric of global strategy. In this article, the authors explore potential limitations and negative consequences of outsourcing strategy on a global scale.     

Current account adjustment in industrial countries

This paper examines the dynamics of current account adjustment among industrial countries. The purpose is to evaluate whether there is a threshold level of a current account deficit at which it becomes unsustainable and whether it is possible to characterize episodes of adjustment. We identify 25 episodes in which there was a sustained improvement in the current account following a large deficit between 1980 and 1997. We find that a typical current account reversal begins when the current account deficit is about 5% of GDP. However, we also find considerable cross-country variation in the reversal threshold, consistent with a stock-adjustment model of current account sustainability. Reversals are associated with slowing income growth and a 10–20% real exchange rate depreciation. Real export growth, declining investment, and an eventual leveling off in the budget deficit–GDP ratio are also likely to be part of the adjustment. These results imply that current account reversals in industrialized countries are related to the business cycle.     

A text book treatment of calculating returns on non-traditional portfolios

This paper addresses a gap in traditional portfolio literature by providing techniques for identifying returns on non-traditional portfolios.Futures contracts require daily cash flows over the holding period; these cash flows determine the rate of return. The security deposit represents a tied investment since the funds are not available for other uses and do not earn a risk adjusted return. To initiate a short option or a short stock position also requires a cash outflow. The cash outflow or equity deposit effectively constitutes an investment since the trader postpones consumption in a risky medium that does not guarantee the return of the funds.By identifying the amount of the investment and rates of returns, it is possible to extend normative investment analysis to non-traditional portfolio holdings. This paper introduces four propositions to aid in this process.