Unconventional monetary policy and stock repurchases: Firm-level evidence from a comparison between the United States and Japan

This paper is the first comparative study examining the determinants of stock repurchases during the period of unconventional monetary policy. By constructing a vast firm-level dataset of the U.S. and Japan and conducting multivariate Tobit and probit analyses, this paper presents evidence that during the period of unconventional monetary policy, in both the U.S. and Japan, firms with more free cash flow and lower borrowing costs are more likely to repurchase stock, firms with higher financial leverage are more likely to abstain from stock repurchases, and firms coordinate dividends and stock repurchases to please shareholders. I also find striking contrasts between the results of U.S. and Japanese firms, and show the importance of financial structure in explaining the contrasting results. From a micro perspective, this paper provides new insight and evidence to support the view that financial structure should be thought of as an important factor determining the effects of unconventional monetary policy.     

Stock market dependence in crisis periods: Evidence from oil price shocks and the Qatar blockade

This paper examines the correlation and the dependence patterns of the Qatar stock market with other markets using copula statistical theory and exploiting new datasets covering the period August 1998 to June 2018. To examine the crisis –specific change in the average degree of dependence we decomposed the data into the time periods before and after oil price shocks and the 2017 political crisis among the Gulf Cooperation Council members (i.e. the Qatari blockade). Our findings from the static copula modelling show that the correlations between the Qatari and the other stock markets significantly change after the oil price and the blockade crisis as well. The degree of change in the correlation is time varying and differs from county-group to another. Moreover, our findings reveals that the 2008 global financial crisis has a stronger impact than the price shocks and political crisis. The findings of the paper are of interest and allow for formulating a reliable and dynamic portfolio design framework for investors and risk managers.     

Institutional distance and Turkey’s outward foreign direct investment

This study empirically examines the relation between institutional distance (ID) and Turkey’s outward foreign direct investment (TODI). The empirical results use panel data from 2002 to 2016 to show that TODI is attracted to countries with better institutional quality. We also find that host country political stability, government effectiveness, control of corruption, and rule of law attract TODI. We also document that TODI is positively related to cultural distance (CD) and ID is not moderated by CD.     

Internal pyramid structure,contract enforcement,minority investor protection,and firms’ performance: Evidence from emerging economies

This study investigates the relationship between internal pyramid structure and performance of Chinese, Pakistani, Malaysian pyramidal firms, the effect of judicial efficiency and minority investor protection on this relationship. The results show that the pyramid structure of Pakistani firms is more complicated than Chinese and Malaysian firms, both vertically and horizontally. The study finds that the impact of control layers on performance is negative and stronger than control chains. Moreover, the results illustrate that the effect of control layers on performance at Chinese firms is negative but lower than at Pakistani and Malaysian firms. However, control chains have insignificant association with performance at Chinese pyramid firms. We find that efficient judiciary abates the negative impact of control layers and chains on performance. Our results reveal that in the absence of efficient courts the minority investors’ protection have insignificant impact on the association between internal pyramid structure and firms’ performance.     

Asymmetric volatility spillovers between economic policy uncertainty and stock markets: Evidence from China

This study explores the spillovers between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and stock market realized volatility (RV). The monthly index of Chinese and US EPU and RV are used to analyze the pairwise directional spillovers. We find that RV is a net receiver that is more vulnerable to shocks from U.S. EPU than to shocks from Chinese EPU. We further decompose the RV into good and bad volatility to test the asymmetric spillover effect between the stock market and EPU. The results suggest that EPU has a bigger effect on bad volatility in the stock market throughout most of the sample period. However, we find that good volatility spillovers become larger during periods of stimulated reform, whereas bad volatility spillovers become larger during periods of international disputes. We show that Chinese stock market volatility is sensitive to both U.S. and Chinese EPU and that the spillover is asymmetric in different periods.     

Uncovering the global network of economic policy uncertainty

This study uncovers the static and dynamic network of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) across 17 developed and emerging economies. We build a centrality network using the minimal spanning tree (MST) as well as a dependency network using partial correlations. Results from the MST show that EPU exhibits some degree of geographical connections with EPUs in seven countries in the sample directly linked to the US EPU. Evidence from dynamic time-varying MST reveals that the nature and dominance of the EPU network have changed significantly over time. Further, the US and German EPUs dominate a close-knit global policy uncertainty network with the highest net (To and From) transmitter of information flow in the dependency network. Greece, Russia, and Brazil are the top three net receivers of information in the global network of EPU. The policy implication of these results relates to the renewed and ongoing international debate on policy coordination.     

Global uncertainties and portfolio flow dynamics of the BRICS countries

This paper investigates the dynamics of bond and stock market capital flows to BRICS countries under uncertainties such as global economic policy uncertainty and the US trade policy uncertainty. We use a time-varying Granger causality framework over the January 2008-November 2019 period to analyze the predictive power of uncertainties on capital flows in the form of bond and equity. The results show that the effects are heterogeneous across countries and stronger during the Global Financial Crisis period and post-2018 period while it lost its significance in the subsequent period. The negative influence of uncertainties on capital flows directed to BRICS countries is also evident in the results of non-parametric time-varying panel models. Overall, it is thought that the heterogeneous structure of the causality between uncertainty and portfolio flows into BRICS may present portfolio diversification benefits for global investors.     

Does economic policy uncertainty raise corporate precautionary cash holdings? Evidence from China

Using China as the research setting, this paper investigates the relationship between economic policy uncertainty and corporate precautionary cash holdings. Empirical results show a U-shaped relation between economic policy uncertainty and corporate precautionary cash holdings. Empirical analysis, in terms of ownership structure, firm size, corporate competitiveness and geographical location, further shows that (i) the effects for economic policy uncertainty in both state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises are significant, but the effect is stronger for state-owned enterprises; (ii) such significant effect is also found more strongly in small and medium-sized enterprises and highly competitive enterprises; and (iii) the effects for eastern, central and western China are all statistically significant, but the effect is strongest for eastern China.     

本世纪以来的西方经济增长理论

中国经济正处于动能转换的关键时期,需要来自增长理论研究的支持。21世纪以来,经济增长理论的研究取得了显著进步。本文旨在评述增长理论的最新发展,进一步梳理理论脉络和主流观点,为学术研究和经济实践提供参考。本文认为,经济增长理论已逐渐形成制度决定理论、结构转变理论和人口过渡理论三大主流观点。同时,本文指出了增长理论存在的不足。在总结现有文献贡献与不足的基础上,对未来研究方向进行了展望。     

Agricultural holdings with undefined boundaries,communal systems and counter‐hegemonies: The persistence of the peasantry in Argentina

The presence of agricultural holdings with undefined boundaries (AHUBs) and their heterogeneous geographical distribution questions the supposed hegemony of agribusiness in Argentina. Given the lack of defined boundaries, these holdings generate a communal culture among dwellers, which is reflected in both the strategies of the use of commons and the initiatives for the defence of land in the conflicts between peasants and entrepreneurs. This article describes two counter‐enclosure experiences that were generated and have developed on the bedrock of AHUBs and a communal matrix. Those defence strategies are employed by families that possess the land but have not title to it, being a defence tactic against attempts of eviction. AHUB not only is a new census category that allows us to enhance our knowledge of the rural world but also proposes modes of production that differ from those of the capitalist model, showing possible counter‐hegemonic development alternatives that arise from the practices used in these holdings.