Simultaneity, Rationality and Price Determination in US Live Cattle

The results of recent research on the informational efficiency of the US live cattle futures market are ambiguous. Moreover, simultaneous, rational expectations models of spot and futures markets for non-storables are lacking in the literature. This paper addresses both issues: by developing a simultaneous rational expectations model of the US live cattle market, with functional relationships for short hedgers, long hedgers, net short speculators and consumers, the paper employs a wider information set than in previous research and it thus provides a more powerful test of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). Tests indicate the possible presence of non-linearities in the long hedging and net short speculation equations.
The results suggest first, that there is support for Working's hypotheses of selective and operational hedging, for short and long hedgers respectively, second that speculators may be noise traders or risk-loving (although the non-linear version of the speculation function partially corrects this anomaly), and third that beef is a normal good while corn is a complementary input. Time-varying volatility is represented as an EGARCH ( p , q ) process. Post-sample, this model does not significantly outperform the futures price in spot price forecasting, implying non-rejection of the EMH.     

The forecasting approach to efficiency in the wool market

This paper develops and presents estimates of a simultaneous equations model of the Australian wool market, the world's largest producer and exporter of fine wool. The model contains functional relationships for unhedged inventories, consumption of raw wool, and the activities of both hedgers and speculators in wool futures. Expectations are represented by the adaptive hypothesis. This model extends the work of Leuthold and Hartmann (1979) and Leuthold and Garcia (1988) by including expectations in the spot-futures model, and that of Goss and Giles (1986) by including composite equations for hedger-speculators, extending the expectations hypothesis to the consumption equation, and by using the model to test the efficient markets hypothesis. Wald tests and likelihood ratio tests for unit roots in wool cash prices are conducted and in no case can the hypothesis of a single unit root be rejected. Estimation is by three stage least squares, with correction for first order serial correlation. The model provides good intra- and post-sample forecasts of most variables, especially of unhedged inventories and consumption of wool, both important spot market relationships. The model-derived forecast of the spot price is inferior to the forecast implicit in the futures price, although a compositive predictor clearly outperforms the futures price as an anticipation of subsequent cash prices. Nevertheless, it is suggested that the efficient markets hypothesis should not be rejected, because there is evidence that futures market agents are learning to use the information contained in the model.     

Rational Expectations and Price Determination in the US Oats Market

This paper develops a simultaneous rational expectations model of the US oats market Consistent estimates of the structural parameters are obtained by the instrumental variables method and 15 of 16 parameter estimates are significant at the 5 per cent level Estimated elasticities suggest that hedged stocks are more responsive to price changes than unhedged stocks, and that consumption demand for oats is more responsive to income changes than to changes in price. Post-sample forecasts of the spot price derived from this model are employed to test the semi-strong form efficient markets hypothesis (EMH), although the futures price outperforms the model as a predictor of the spot price. Hence the EMH cannot be rejected     

Volatility–volume co-movements: evidence from China metal markets

This article investigates the interactional relationship between price volatility and futures trading activity for three heavily traded metal products on the Shanghai Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Using models based on vector autoregression and generalized method of moments, we show, in particular, that futures trading activity has a strong impact on both spot and futures price volatility in copper and aluminium markets. Futures trading activity leads spot market volatility in copper and aluminium markets which suggests that futures markets have a destabilizing effect. In order to disentangle the effect of different traders’ types on asset price movements, we decompose futures trading into speculators’ and hedgers’ trading and investigate their contributions to volatility. As a robustness check, we investigate the impact of endogenous structural breaks on the interactional relationship between price volatility and futures trading.     

Simultaneity,Forecasting and Profits in London Copper Futures

Previous research on price determination for non‐ferrous metals at the London Metal Exchange (LME) suffers from three limitations: first it has employed single equation methods only, which cannot explain the simultaneous determination of spot and futures prices; second, by focusing on current and lagged prices, previous research does not analyse the effect on price determination of critical variables such as expectations, consumption and inventories; third, the outcome of prior research regarding market efficiency is ambiguous. This paper, which addresses these issues, develops a simultaneous model of the copper market at the LME, with representation of the activities of hedgers, speculators and consumers. This model produces post‐sample forecasts of the spot price which outperform conventional benchmarks, thus providing evidence against the efficient market hypothesis. Model‐derived forecasts are employed as the foundation of a trading program which produces risk‐adjusted profits (net of commission costs) for holding periods of one week and one month, thus fulfilling the ‘sufficient condition’ for market inefficiency. This study, therefore, provides new insights into price determination on the LME copper market, and resolves the ambiguity of previous research regarding the efficiency of that market. This is the first application of the model forecasting approach to the question of performance of the market for copper.     

期货投机交易对现货市场的稳定效应及福利分析

设立股指期货市场 ,引入大量投机交易者是否会对证券现货市场产生负面影响 ,是导致目前市场管理者在设立股指期货市场时犹豫不决的重要原因。本文通过建立两阶段的理论模型以及国际股指期货币市场数据的实证表明 ,股指期货的风险分担和信息传递功能将导致我国股票现货市场波动的减缓和原有市场参与者福利的提高     

Financial frictions and the futures pricing puzzle

In perfect capital markets, the futures price of an asset should be an unbiased forecast of its realized spot price when the contract matures. In reality, futures prices are often higher for some assets and lower for others. However, there is no stability in the relationship between futures prices and the realized spot prices. This instability has been a puzzle in the existing financial literature. The key to this puzzle may lie in the nature of the model and the lack of market imperfections. In this study, we take a theoretical approach in a dynamic multi-period environment. We incorporate competition between disparate economic agents and impose financial frictions (i.e., imperfections) that are in the form of hedging and borrowing limits on them. Our model gives rise to multiple equilibria, each with unique market clearing prices, with the market switching between these equilibria. Our analysis incorporates a comprehensive consideration of the risks faced by the futures markets participants (i.e., speculators and hedgers) and leads to a better understanding of the puzzle.     

Separating the Roles of Speculators and Consumers: a Model of Futures Trade

The general equilibrium model of Britto (1984) is criticised. In particular, it is shown that allowing consumers to trade on the futures market leads to more complicated results than necessary. If consumers do not trade futures, and only producers and speculators do, results are greatly simplified. Consumer risk parameters, and parameters of producers production function are irrelevant. The differential between the futures price and the expected spot price, and the direction of futures trade is shown to depend in a straightforward way on the price elasticity of demand for the product on the spot market.     

The links between international parity conditions and Granger causality: a study of exchange rates and prices

This article provides a simple equilibrium model of a futures market. Since the futures market is a zero sum game, some firms will, in equilibrium, end up being ‘speculators’ who bet against ‘hedgers’. We show it is firms that have high initial capital and/or poor production opportunities that are the most likely candidates to bet against the hedgers. In equilibrium, these groups earn a premium in order to provide this insurance so that speculating increases value. We also provide some results that imply an inverted U shaped relationship between trading volume and the level of futures prices. Empirical evidence from the S&P futures contract provides strong empirical support for this theoretical result.     

Price discovery and volatility spillover in spot and futures markets: evidences from steel-related commodities in China

The price discovery and spillover effect are significant indicators in futures markets. This study examines the price discovery and spillover effects using vector error correction model and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic for seven types of steel products in Chinese spot and futures markets. The results show that the price discovery exists in all of steel futures market. It is also confirmed that futures prices in all items are mainly leading spot prices via permanent-transitory and information share. In the results of spillover effects, it is found that wire rod, coking coal, coke and silico-manganese have the effects between spot and futures market. In rebar market, there is the spillover effect from spot to futures. This information about futures prices can help the market participants to make decisions when they predict the spot prices.     

The impact of liquidity constraints on the cash-futures basis dynamics: Evidence from the Chinese market

This study investigates the impact of liquidity constraints on the dynamics of the cash-futures basis in the Chinese futures market. By analyzing the trading behaviors of hedgers, speculators, and arbitrageurs in a liquidity constraint context, we document two effects: the expectation effect and the liquidity effect. We further propose a set of threshold vector error correction models (VECMs) for the CSI 300 index and CSI 300 index futures to examine these two effects separately and jointly. We find evidence for both effects. We also find that a basis-liquidity-based threshold VECM, which includes both effects, performs well in explaining why the degree of persistence of a large basis depends on the direction of divergence in the cash-futures price relationship, a stylized fact we observe in the Chinese futures market.     

期货市场与现货市场之间的价格研究--中国农产品市场的经验

本文借助于信息共享模型与波动溢出效应模型对我国大豆和小麦的期、现货市场之间的价格发现进行了多层次的实证研究,定量描述了期、现货市场在价格发现中作用的大小,深入刻画了我国农产品期、现货市场之间的动态关系.研究结果显示:大豆期、现货价格之间存在双向引导关系,小麦仅存在期货对现货的单向引导关系;期、现货市场均扮演着重要的价格发现角色,且期货市场在价格发现中处于主导地位;期、现货市场之间均存在双向波动溢出关系,但现货市场来自期货市场的波动溢出效应均强于期货市场来自现货市场的波动溢出效应;并且,随着期货市场的发展,期、现货市场之间的波动溢出程度均呈逐渐增强态势.     

Hedging performance of REIT index futures: A comparison of alternative hedge ratio estimation methods

Futures contracts based on REIT market indices remain an under-researched topic, given their short history. This paper extends the literature by examining what hedge-ratio estimation method yields the most effective hedging performance of REIT futures. We include a wide range of commonly used methods and apply them to all four global markets which have developed REIT index futures (i.e., Australia, Europe, Japan & the U.S.). By adopting an out-of-sample analytical framework, our results show that there exist multiple methods in each market that can be considered best performers and the mix of best performers varies across markets. Furthermore, our results suggest that constant hedge-ratio methods are not necessarily inferior to their time-varying counterparts, and that a more complicated GARCH model does not necessarily lead to better performance than a more parsimonious one. Finally, only DCC and BEKK are found to rank consistently among the best performers across all four markets when we examine collectively the results using different out-of-sample periods. However, this does not mean that hedgers will always want to use them.     

异质信念、投机均衡与农产品期货定价*

农产品期货市场套利并不充分,交易者也不是完全理性的。本文假设农产品期货市场有限套利、交易者异质信念并遵循“经验法则”预期,构建了农产品期货投机均衡定价模型,并认为集中竞价规则下产生的农产品期货价格是由交易者的预期决定的;前期期货价格水平、现货价格和前期期货价格的变动趋势、不同类型交易者的比例结构及其预期模式共同影响农产品期货价格的形成与波动;基本分析法交易者占主导地位的农产品期货市场具有更高的套期保值与价格发现效率。针对中国七种主要农产品期货的实证结果显示,农产品期货投机均衡定价模型对解释中国农产品期货价格的形成与波动是有效的。这意味着在期货行情系统中实时披露现货价格信息,培育和引导交易者运用基本分析法预测期货价格走势,有助于提升农产品期货市场的效率。     

Pass-through in United States beef cattle prices: a test of Ricardian rent theory

Feeder cattle are fattened to become fed live cattle 6 months later, and the feeder cattle stock is fixed in the short-run. Efficiency in competitive markets suggests feeder cattle prices should fully reflect feed prices and information on future fed cattle prices. Employing a long time series (1979–2004) of feeder cattle futures, live cattle futures, and local corn prices, we test whether complete pass-through occurs. For fed cattle futures prices, we find about 93% of complete pass-through to present feeder cattle prices. The corresponding negative effect of a corn price increase is about 87% of complete pass-through. In contrast with imperfectly competitive agricultural land rental markets, the results support the hypothesis of Ricardian rent extraction by the scarce asset owner in feeder cattle markets.     

Market efficiency in agricultural futures markets

Market efficiency and unbiasedness are tested in four agricultural commodity futures markets - live cattle, hogs, corn, and soybean meal - using cointegration and error correction models with GQARCH-in-mean processes. Results indicate each market is unbiased in the long run, although cattle, hogs and corn futures markets exhibit short-run inefficiencies and pricing biases. Models for cattle and corn outperform futures prices in out-of-sample forecasting. Results also suggest short-run time-varying risk premiums in cattle and hog futures markets.     

FUTURES MARKETS AND BUBBLE FORMATION IN EXPERIMENTAL ASSET MARKETS*

Abstract. We construct asset markets of the type studied in Smith et al. (1988) , in which price bubbles and crashes are widely observed. In addition to a spot market, there are futures markets in operation, one maturing at the beginning of each period of the life of the asset. We find that when futures markets are present, bubbles do not occur in the spot markets. The futures markets seem to reduce the speculation and the decision errors that appear to give rise to price bubbles in experimental asset markets.     

A behavioral cobweb-like commodity market model with heterogeneous speculators

According to empirical studies, speculators place significant orders in commodity markets and may cause bubbles and crashes. This paper develops a cobweb-like commodity market model that takes into account the behavior of technical and fundamental speculators. We show that interactions between consumers, producers and heterogeneous speculators may produce price dynamics which mimics the cyclical price motion of actual commodity markets, i.e., irregular switches between bullish and bearish price developments. Moreover, we find that the impact of speculators on price dynamics is non-trivial: depending on the market structure, speculative transactions may either be beneficial or harmful for market stability.     

基于波动效应与价格发现的期指仿真交易研究

采用修正的GARCH模型和向量误差修正模型（VEC）将股指期货推出后现货市场波动性的变化和股指期货与现货市场的价格发现功能结合起来进行对比研究发现,期指仿真交易的推出对于现货市场效率的改进确实存在正面的影响。其引入在短期内加大了现货市场的波动,但这一波动正是市场信息流动加速的反映,因而提高了市场信息的传递效率。研究同时也表明,期货价格领先于现货价格,存在由期货市场到现货市场长期的单向因果关系,说明期货价格具有引导现货价格向均衡方向调整的功能,从而在经验上支持了股指期货市场的开放政策。     

An asymptotic property of equilibrium on futures markets arising from speculation

This paper presents an asymptotic property of a joint spot-futures market equilibrium established in Cheng-Magill (1982). As speculators diversity over a large number of markets, the equilibrium risk premium converges to an asymptotic premium, the behaviour of which depends solely on the stochastic dependence between the spot price and an index of average returns on other markets. Risk arising from the variability of the spot price itself is diversified away. The results are related to the arbitrage pricing theory of Ross (1976).