Return and volatility spillovers between currency and bond markets in India

This paper examines the return and volatility spillovers between the foreign exchange and bond markets of India using a bivariate asymmetric BEKK-GARCH (1,1) model for the period 4 April 2005 to 31 March 2017. We find the evidence of bidirectional return and volatility spillovers with asymmetric effects between these two markets. The spillovers are evidenced even during the periods when foreign portfolio investments in the Indian bond markets were relatively low suggests the existence of strong inter-linkages between both the markets.     

The Effect of Friendly Persuasion and Gender on Tax Comliance Behavior

Friendly persuasion, in contrast to deterrent measures like tax audits and penalties on underreported taxes, is a positive and possibly a cost effective method of increasing taxpayer compliance. However, prior studies have failed to show that friendly persuasion has a significant impact on compliance (Blumenthal et al., 2001; McGraw and Scholz, 1991). In our study, in contrast to prior studies, we examine the impact of generating and reading reasons supporting compliance as friendly persuasion on individuals' income reporting behavior as well as control for gender effects. Specifically, we predict an interaction effect between friendly persuasion and gender on compliance behavior. We carried out a 2 (friendly persuasion and control) × 2 (men and women) full factorial experiment, where participants earned $30 by completing two questionnaires. Participants in the friendly persuasion group were required first to generate and second to read a list of reasons why they should comply fully. Afterwards, participants in both groups were asked to report the income they earned and pay tax on the reported income. The results show a significant main effect for gender as well as a significant interaction effect between gender and friendly persuasion on income reported. Women in the friendly persuasion group reported significantly higher income compared to men in that group. Other comparisons were not significant. Policy implications for increasing taxpayers' ethics and compliance are highlighted.     

Impact of Personal and Situational Factors on Taxpayer Compliance: An Experimental Analysis

This study used a laboratory experiment with monetary incentives to test the impact of three personal factors (moral reasoning, value orientation and risk preference), and three situational factors (the presence/absence of audits, tax inequity, and peer reporting behavior), while controlling for the impact of other demographic characteristics, on tax compliance. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) reveals that all the main effects analyzed are statistically significant and robustly influence tax compliance behavior. These results highlight the importance of obtaining a proper understanding of these factors for developing effective policies for increasing the level of compliance, and indicate that standard enforcement polices based on punishment alone should be supplemented by an information system that would acquaint tax payers with the compliance level of other tax payers; reinforce the concept of fairness of the tax system among tax payers; and develop programs that enhance and appeal to a taxpayer's moral conscience and reinforce social cohesion.     

Central Bank Intervention in USD/INR Market: Estimating Its Reaction Function and Impact on Volatility

Econometric evidence on why central banks intervene in the foreign exchange market and the impact of such intervention has remained inconclusive. We contribute to the literature with evidence from India, a managed float regime that sees consistent monitoring and intervention by Reserve Bank of India, India’s central bank. Estimation of the central bank reaction function shows that increased volatility in the foreign exchange market and misalignment from targeted rates are important objectives behind intervention. The paper further uses the GARCH framework to study how intervention influences exchange rate volatility. We find that intervention in the spot market increases volatility while that in the forward market reduces volatility.     

Relationship between inflation and relative price variability in India

The paper attempts to investigate the relationship between relative price variability (RPV) and aggregate inflation rate through parametric and semi-parametric methods (kernel regression method). Monthly data of wholesale price index is used for the period from February 1995 to March 2014 for this purpose. Both the parametric and semi-parametric methods lead us to the non-monotonic relationship between RPV and inflation. An attempt has also been made to determine the optimal inflation rate that would minimize RPV.     

Examining the Customer Experience of Using Banking Chatbots and Its Impact on Brand Love: The Moderating Role of Perceived Risk

In today’s digitally enabled world, banks offer chatbots to improve customer service. This research looks at chatbots as a form of an information system. It observes the effect of the three quality dimensions of the information system success model on customer experience, further leading to love for the bank brand. As chatbots are a new technology platform, consumers may find some risk in its use. Hence, the moderating role of perceived risk between the three quality dimensions and customer experience is also observed. The survey method was employed to conduct the study. Data were collected from 258 respondents. The results provide a definite direction for banks to strengthen the consumer–brand relationship by offering chatbots suiting their customers’ expectations.