Default prediction with dynamic sectoral and macroeconomic frailties

This paper extends the macroeconomic frailty model to include sectoral frailty factors that capture default correlations among firms in a similar business. We estimate sectoral and macroeconomic frailty factors and their effects on default intensity using the data for Japanese firms from 1992 to 2010. We find strong evidence for the presence of sectoral frailty factors even after accounting for the effects of observable covariates and macroeconomic frailty on default intensity. The model with sectoral frailties performs better than that without. Results show that accounting for the sources of unobserved sectoral default risk covariations improves the accuracy of default probability estimation.     

Developing Equity Release Markets: Risk Analysis for Reverse Mortgages and Home Reversions

Equity release products are sorely needed in an aging population with high levels of home ownership. There has been a growing literature analyzing risk components and capital adequacy of reverse mortgages in recent years. However, little research has been done on the risk analysis of other equity release products, such as home reversion contracts. This is partly due to the dominance of reverse mortgage products in equity release markets worldwide. In this article we compare cash flows and risk profiles from the provider's perspective for reverse mortgage and home reversion contracts. An at-home/in long-term care split termination model is employed to calculate termination rates, and a vector autoregressive (VAR) model is used to depict the joint dynamics of economic variables including interest rates, house prices, and rental yields. We derive stochastic discount factors from the no arbitrage condition and price the no negative equity guarantee in reverse mortgages and the lease for life agreement in the home reversion plan accordingly. We compare expected payoffs and assess riskiness of these two equity release products via commonly used risk measures: Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR).     

Mortgage Termination: An Empirical Hazard Model with a Stochastic Term Structure

Pricing for mortgage and mortgage-backed securities is complicated due to the stochastic and interdependent nature of prepayment and default risks. This paper presents a unified economic model of the contingent claims and competing risks of mortgage termination by prepayment and default. I adopt a proportional hazard framework to analyze these competing and interdependent risks in a model with time-varying covariates. The paper incorporates a stochastic interest rate model into the hazard function for prepayment. The empirical results reported in the paper provide new evidence about the ruthlessness of default and prepayment behavior and the sensitivity of these decisions to demographic as well as financial phenomena. The results also illustrate that evaluating the interest rate contingent claims with a stochastic term structure has effects on predicting not only the mortgage prepayment behavior but also the mortgage default behavior.     

Omitted Mobility Characteristics and Property Market Dynamics: Application to Mortgage Termination

Property market dynamics depend on changes in long run equilibrium and on impediments to adjustment towards equilibrium. Mortgage termination due to mobility, default and refinancing provides a lens for evaluating property market adjustments. The borrower’s decision to move as an adjustment mechanism in the property market is associated with utility-maximizing decisions to either prepay or default on the mortgage. The optimal choice between these two termination events may depend on unobserved propensities related to change in income, job location, or family size, and substantial inertial forces including search costs, neighborhood change and attachment to an area. We propose a method for modeling variables determining the impact of mobility on mortgage terminations with imperfect household and loan level data. Since omitted variables contribute to moving decisions and therefore to mortgage prepayment and default decisions, utility functions for sale and default are correlated through these unobservable variables; thus, the IIA assumption of the widely used Multinomial Logit Model (MNL) is violated. Under such circumstances, econometric theory suggests that the Nested Logit Model (NMNL) is a better choice, which obviates the limitation of MNL by allowing correlation in unobserved factors across alternatives. Using loan level micro data, we find empirical evidence showing significant correlation between sale and default due to omitted borrower mobility characteristics. Our simulations find that NMNL out performs MNL in out-of-sample prediction. Improved predictions of moves and defaults are applicable to micro and macro analysis of the housing market system.     

住房抵押贷款风险控制实证研究——基于中国银行某分行的数据分析

选取中国银行某分行住房抵押贷款数据,运用压力测试、Logistic模型对住房抵押贷款风险进行实证研究,判断该行抵御风险的能力.研究发现,贷款客户的学历、婚姻状况、贷款利率和期限等因素对该行住房抵押贷款违约风险产生了重要影响.因此,银行应在相关方面加强控制以有效防范风险.     

The Duration of Foreclosures in the Subprime Mortgage Market: A Competing Risks Model with Mixing

This paper examines what happens to mortgages in the subprime mortgage market once foreclosure proceeding are initiated. A multinomial logit model that allows for the interdependence of the possible outcomes or risks (cure, partial cure, paid off, and real estate owned) through the correlation of associated unobserved heterogeneities is estimated. The results show that the duration of foreclosures is impacted by many factors including contemporaneous housing market conditions, the prior performance of the loan (prior delinquency), and the state-level legal environment.     

Credit History and the Performance of Prime and Nonprime Mortgages

Although nonprime lending has experienced steady or even explosive growth over the last decade very little is known about the performance characteristics of these mortgages. Using data from national secondary market institutions, this paper estimates a competing risks proportional hazard model, which includes unobserved heterogeneity. The analysis examines the performance of 30-year fixed rate owner occupied home purchase mortgages from February 1995 to the end of 1999 and compares nonprime and prime loan default and prepayment behavior. Nonprime loans are identified by mortgage interest rates that are substantially higher than the prevailing prime rate. Results indicate that nonprime mortgages differ significantly from prime mortgages: they have different risk characteristics at origination; they default at elevated levels; and they respond differently to the incentives to prepay and default. For instance, nonprime mortgages are less responsive to how much the option to call the mortgage or refinance is in the money and this effect is magnified for mortgages with low credit scores. Tests also reveal that default rates are less responsive to homeowner equity when credit scores are included in the specification.     

Pricing Effects of the Decision to Sell or Hold Adjustable Rate Mortgage Loans in a Portfolio

Residential mortgage originators can transfer loans to ultimate lenders quickly and efficiently using the secondary mortgage market. Some adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) lenders use this outlet consistently while others hold whole loans in their portfolios on a long-term basis. Selling and holding lenders should respond to different economic factors when setting yields on ARM loans originated because their long-term positions in the loans are so diverse. This paper develops and tests a model of differential pricing behavior for selling and holding strategies. Empirical results support the notion that lenders use different factors to price loans and that these factors are related to the risks faced by the originating lender given its origination strategy. Additional findings suggest that institutional and firm-specific pricing tendencies exist in the primary mortgage market for adjustable rate debt.     

The Impact of Derivatives Activity on Commercial Banks: Evidence from U.S. Bank Holding Companies

We have examined the impact of derivatives activity on commercial banks based on panel data from 18 large U.S. bank holding companies (BHC). This paper found that in general the larger the notional values of non-traded derivatives, the more derivative positions held by banks, meaning potentially better performance. The derivatives activity increased the BHCs’ overall risk level, the reason is that most US BHCs are able to take more speculative positions in derivatives contracts in the name of risk management, excluding the impact of held-for-trading positions. Additionally, we found that while participative banks took more speculative positions in derivatives contracts in the name of risk management, while dominant banks preferred to hold derivatives positions for the sake of hedging the underlying risks. Furthermore, we found that the BHCs take more speculative positions in derivatives contracts in the name of risk management before the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis than after the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis, so they assumed more risks before the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis. Overall, our findings suggest that the usage of derivatives for commercial banks is a double-edged sword. Using derivatives maybe a matter of managerial risk appetite to hedge underlying risks for commercial banks, however, it maybe also increase the commercial banks’ overall risks if the derivatives positions are used to speculate, though derivatives activity could increase the profitability of BHCs.     

Corporate Hedging in the Insurance Industry

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the extent to which insurance companies utilize financial derivatives contracts in the management of risks The data set we employ allows us to observe the universe of individual insurer transactions for a class of contracts, namely, those normally thought of as off-balance-sheet (OBS) We provide information on the number of insurers using various types of derivatives contracts and the volume of transactions in terms of notional amounts and the number of counterparties. Life insurers are most active in interest rate and foreign exchange derivatives, while property/casualty insurers tend to be active in trading equity option and foreign exchange contracts Using a multivariate probtt analysis, we explore the factors that potentially influence the existence of OBS activities. We also investigate questions relating to whether certain subsets of OBS transactions (for example, exchange traded) are related to such things as interest rate risk measures, organizational form and other characteristics that may discriminate between desired risk/return profiles across a cross-section of insurers. We find evidence consistent with the use of derivatives by insurers to hedge risks posed by guaranteed investment contracts (GICs), coilater-alized mortgage obligations (CMOs), and other sources of financial risk     

On the determinants of yield spreads between mortgage pass-through and Treasury securities

Yield spreads between mortgage pass-through and U.S. Treasury securities may reflect differences in taxation, phenomena affecting relative supply and demand, and compensation for default, call, and marketability risks on mortgage instruments. Our research empirically models differences in yields between pass-throughs and comparable-maturity Treasuries. We find that interest-rate volatility and the term structure of rates, factors often cited in the mortgage pricing literature as affecting the mortgage call premium, are the primary determinants of movements in these spreads. Moreover, these effects have grown in importance in recent years as exercise of the prepayment option has increased. We also find evidence that liquidity and credit concerns affect the pricing of pass-through securities.     

Estimating the marginal contribution of adjustable-rate mortgage selection to termination probabilities in a nested model

In this study we measure the marginal contribution of ARMs to termination probabilities. To do this we develop a modified nested-logit model of mortgage selection and termination and identify the role of risk aversity in the selection process. Simulations of termination probabilities under different economic scenarios indicate how ARMs decrease overall portfolio risk through declines in prepayment probabilities which more than offset the increases in default probabilities associated with them.     

A framework for the analysis of firm risk communication

In this paper, we propose a framework for the analysis of risk communication and an index to measure the quality of risk disclosure. Mainstream literature on voluntary disclosure has emphasized that quantity can be used as a sound proxy for quality. We contend that, in the analysis of the disclosure of risks made by public companies, attention has to be paid not only to how much is disclosed but also to what is disclosed and how.We apply the framework to a sample of nonfinancial companies listed in the ordinary market on the Italian Stock Exchange. To verify that the framework and synthetic index are not influenced by the two factors recognized in the literature as the most powerful drivers of disclosure behavior for listed companies, we use an OLS model. The regression shows that the index of disclosure quantity is not influenced either by size or industry. Thus, the synthetic measure can be used to rank the quality of the disclosure of risks.     

个人住房抵押贷款违约风险跃迁概率研究

巴塞尔新资本协议提出针对个人住房抵押贷款可采用内部评级高级法评估其风险,在满足某些最低条件和披露要求的前提下,商业银行可根据自己对个人住房抵押贷款违约概率、违约损失率、违约风险暴露和期限等要素的估计值确定相应的资本要求。本文提出将风险跃迁概率引入到对个人住房抵押贷款提前还款-违约概率的定量估计中。借助逻辑斯特模型,本文将这一概念实际运用到对个人住房抵押贷款微观数据的分析当中,得到的实证研究结论包括借款人历史还款状态可以作为表征其未来还款状态的重要指标,贷龄与借款人还款状态的跃迁概率显著相关等。     

Client Risk Factors and Audit Resource Allocation Decisions

While contemporary auditing standards such as ISA 315 provide broad categories of client risks, prior research regarding audit resource allocation decisions has been based on individual client risks. This study contributes to the literature by using factor analysis to examine how individual client risks are categorized into broad risk factors and by examining the extent to which such broad risk factors are associated with audit engagement planning decisions. These issues are important because auditing standards direct auditors to consider risk patterns and interrelationships in addition to individual risks. Finally, we consider additional individual client risks that reflect those relevant to contemporaneous audit approaches and have not been examined in prior studies. Based on archival data extracted from the working papers of 228 clients of a Japanese audit firm, we find that individual client risks empirically group together in a way that is similar to categories discussed in recent auditing standards. We also find significant relationships between audit resource allocation decisions and broad risk factors that have not been found in prior studies which use individual risk assessments in their models. Finally, we find that client risks that are emphasized in holistic audit approaches such as aggressiveness of forecasts and industry decline also have a significant impact on audit resource allocations.     

住房抵押贷款提前还贷风险管理研究

从现代金融和风险管理角度看,住房抵押贷款提前还贷对商业银行是一种期权性风险,对其收取违约金并非国际惯例,也并不是有效的风险补偿方式。商业银行应适应市场竞争需要,接受风险转嫁并提供风险管理服务,运用风险定价技术在按揭交易价格中对提前还贷风险进行补偿。对于已承担的风险,商业银行应构建抵押贷款提前还贷的数据库,通过表内对冲和市场对冲,推出多样化的住房抵押贷款方式,积极推进住房抵押贷款证券化,从而最终增强银行的盈利来源和核心竞争力。     

Characteristics of Mortgage Terminations: an Analysis of a Loan-Level Dataset

Understanding mortgage termination behavior is crucial for valuating mortgage-backed securities. Analyzing a unique loan-level dataset, this study examines the characteristics of mortgage prepayment and default behaviors in the Korean housing and housing finance markets. We also analyze mortgage termination behaviors across regions, loan purposes, and periods. The results suggest that the prepayment rate of fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) and the ratio of adjustable-rate mortgages to FRMs can provide meaningful signals for the Korean household economy. Although the macro-prudential policies pertaining to the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) and debt-to-income ratio (DTI) are very effective, their effects can vary depending on the region or loan purpose. Furthermore, the DTI and credit score cannot always identify the default risks of mortgages not intended for housing purchases even though such mortgages are more vulnerable to macroeconomic changes. The observed changes in default behavior indicate that the government’s policies to promote fixed-rate loans have achieved a certain degree of success.     

Securitization of Longevity Risk in Reverse Mortgages

Abstract

The reverse mortgage market has been expanding rapidly in developed economies in recent years. The onset of demographic transition places a rapidly rising number of households in an age window in which reverse mortgages have potential appeal. Increasing prices for residential real estate over the last decade have further stimulated interest.

Reverse mortgages involve various risks from the provider-s perspective that may hinder the further development of these financial products. This paper addresses one method of transferring and financing the risks associated with these products through the form of securitization. Securitization is becoming a popular and attractive alternative form of risk transfer of insurance liabilities. Here we demonstrate how to construct a securitization structure for reverse mortgages similar to the one applied in traditional insurance products.

Specifically, we investigate the merits of developing survivor bonds and survivor swaps for reverse mortgage products. In the case of survivor bonds, for example, we are able to compute premiums, both analytically and numerically through simulations, and to examine how the longevity risk may be transferred to the financial investors. Our numerical calculations provide an indication of the economic benefits derived from developing survivor bonds to securitize the “longevity risk component” of reverse mortgage products. Moreover, some sensitivity analysis of these economic benefits indicates that these survivor bonds provide for a promising tool for investment diversification.     

The rise of risk-based pricing of mortgage interest rates in Italy

This paper assesses how much mortgage interest rates in Italy are priced on credit risk as proxied by the probability of household mortgage delinquency estimated using the EU-Silc database. Owing to data availability, we restrict the analysis of mortgage pricing to Italian households. Consistent with the more widespread use of credit scoring, estimates indicate that Italian lenders have increasingly priced mortgage interest rates on household credit risk. For mortgages granted between 2000 and 2007, we find that a 1% point increase in the probability of default is associated with a 21 basis point rise in mortgage interest rates, lower than the 38 basis point premium Edelberg (2006) estimated for the US at the end of the 1990s.     

Housing-Price Cycles and Prepayment Rates of U.S. Mortgage Pools

Empirical mortgage prepayment models generally have trouble explaining differences in mortgage-prepayment speeds among pools with similar interest rates on the underlying mortgages. In this article, we model some of the sources of termination heterogeneity across mortgage pools, particularly the role of regional variations in housing prices in generating atypical prepayment speeds. Using a sample of Freddie Mac mortgage pools from 1991 to 1998, we compare two classes of empirical models: a rational option-pricing model using a backward-solving pricing algorithm and an empirical hazard model. In both empirical estimation strategies, we find evidence that differences in house-price dynamics across regions are an important source of between-pool heterogeneity. This finding is then shown to be robust to alternative ways of parameterizing pool heterogeneity in mortgage termination models.