The Stambaugh bias in panel predictive regressions

This paper analyzes predictive regressions in a panel data setting. The standard fixed effects estimator suffers from a small sample bias, which is the analogue of the Stambaugh bias in time-series predictive regressions. Monte Carlo evidence shows that the bias and resulting size distortions can be severe. A new bias-corrected estimator is proposed, which is shown to work well in finite samples and to lead to approximately normally distributed t-statistics. Overall, the results show that the econometric issues associated with predictive regressions when using time-series data to a large extent also carry over to the panel case. The results are illustrated with an application to predictability in international stock indices.     

Early influences on saving behaviour: Analysis of British panel data

Using data from the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society, we examine the saving behaviour of individuals over time. Initially, we explore the determinants of the saving behaviour of children aged 11–15. Our findings suggest that parental allowances/pocket money (earnings from part-time work) lower (increase) the probability that a child saves. There is also evidence that the financial expectations of the head of household have an influence on their offspring’s saving behaviour, where children of optimistic parents have a lower probability of saving by approximately 2 percentage points. However, there is no evidence of an intergenerational correlation in savings behaviour: the saving behaviour of parents appears to have no bearing on the saving decisions of their offspring. We then go on to explore the implications of the saving behaviour of children for their savings decisions in later life, specifically when observed in early adulthood. We find that having saved as a child has a large positive influence both on the probability of saving on a monthly basis and on the amount saved as an adult. This finding is robust to alternative empirical strategies including IV analysis where the most conservative estimates show that having saved as a child increases the probability of saving during adulthood by 12 percentage points.     

The choice of maturity and additional covenants in debt contracts: A panel data approach

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis for the choice of contract terms in UK Eurobonds. Typically, the theory associates the choice of debt contract terms to firm and market characteristics, arguing that an adequate choice of these terms allows for the reduction of debt contracting costs. We use a panel data approach to examine the validity of extant predictions concerning the choice of maturity, call options, convertible options and protective covenants. Findings provide support to the agency prediction that debt contract terms function as alternative control mechanisms. Additionally, complementary role is found for the use of convertible and call options. Evidence that managers follow a maturity-matching rule, favour capital structure's flexibility in high growth scenarios and use protective covenants when firm's credibility is low corroborates further agency predictions.     

Earnings conservatism: panel data evidence from the European Union and the United States

This paper focuses on earnings conservatism, and provides new evidence based on procedures that account for variability at the firm level, drawing a comparison between the European Union and the United States. A key finding is that the estimated responsiveness of earnings to bad news is substantially higher when unobserved firm-specific effects are modelled. Furthermore, it is shown that accounting has become more conservative not only in the U.S. but also in the EU when taken as a whole, and there is little evidence of marked differences in the asymmetric timeliness of earnings between the two. Indeed, any changes in this property of earnings are likely to be attributable to a common factor that influences firms similarly in both locations, and not necessarily to the process of economic convergence that has taken place in the EU.     

Forecasting state- and MSA-level housing returns of the US: The role of mortgage default risks

We analyze the ability of an index of mortgage default risks (MDRI) for 43 states and 20 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) of the US derived from Google search queries, in predicting (in- and out-of-sample) housing returns of the corresponding states and MSAs, based on various panel data and time-series approaches. In general, our results tend to prefer the panel data model based on common correlated effects estimation. We highlight that growth in MDRI negatively impacts housing returns within-sample, with predictive gains primarily concentrated beyond a year. These results are robust to alternative out-of-sample periods and econometric frameworks. Given the role of house prices as a leading indicators, our results are of value to policymakers, especially at the longer-run.     

Interest rate dynamic effect on stock returns and central bank transparency: Evidence from emerging markets

Interest rate dynamic effect on stock returns is examined under different levels of central bank transparency under an asset pricing context. Using a large set of emerging countries in a panel data framework, we provide evidence for a negative link between stock returns and interest rate differences. However, this negative effect is reduced significantly under a transparent central bank, underlying a non-linear impact on stock returns. Our study is focused on a period from 1998 to 2008 where fundamental changes in the level of central banks’ transparency were occurred. Our findings imply that restrictive monetary policies under high levels of transparency lead to smoother reductions on stock returns with significant benefits for financial stability.     

Systemic risk in the Chinese financial system: A panel Granger causality analysis

In this paper, we investigate China’s changing financial interconnectedness via the presence of Granger-causality between firm level factors (Leverage, Market To Book Value and Returns) and systemic risk measures ($\Delta$CoVaR, MES, and SRISK ). The analysis is based on 161 Chinese financial intermediaries (14 Traditional Banks, 16 Finance Services, 131 Real Estate Finance Developers) continuously listed over the period 2007:1–2021:1. We find that, in addition to traditional banks, finance companies and real estate finance developers pose systemic threats to the Chinese financial system, in particular during the Global Financial Crisis and the 2015 Chinese stock crash. Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has put under strain the Chinese financial system, in particular the finance services.     

The long-run reversal in the long run: Insights from two centuries of international equity returns

We perform the most comprehensive test of long-term reversal in national equity indices ever done. Having examined data from 71 countries for the years 1830 through 2019, we demonstrate a strong reversal pattern: the past long-term return negatively predicts future performance. The phenomenon is not subsumed by other established cross-sectional return patterns, including the value effect. The long-term reversal is robust to many considerations but highly unstable through time. Finally, our findings support the overreaction explanation of this anomaly.     

Empirical analysis of real and financial volatilities on stock excess returns: evidence from Taiwan industrial data

This paper tests the relation between stock excess returns and risk factors measured by volatility. The sources of the volatility are based on the volatility of macroeconomic factors and time-series volatility. To model the macroeconomic fundamentals, we divide the risk into real and financial volatilities pertinent to Taiwan's economic environment. By examining the data of indusry excess returns and market excess returns, we find evidence to reject the hypothesis that the stock excess returns are independent of the real and financial volatilities.     

Insurance demand and country risks: A nonlinear panel data analysis

This paper investigates the impact of country risks, including political, financial, and economic risks, on the income elasticity of insurance demand. Using the panel smooth transition regression model, we find that there is a significant regime-switching effect concerning the impact of country risks on the income elasticity of insurance demand. A full-sample analysis shows that the income elasticity of insurance demand decreases when country risks diminish. In a subsample analysis based on income level, legal origin, and restriction on banks' participation in insurance activities, we find that the elasticity diminishes in general when economic risk drops. When political risk is lower, the elasticity decreases in countries with high-income, common law origin, and insurance activities permitted by banks, whereas a clear pattern cannot be identified in the case of financial risk.     

The predictability of returns on equity REITs and their co-movement with other assets

Recent evidence suggests that the variation in the expected excess returns is predictable and arises from changes in business conditions. Using a multifactor latent variable model with time-varying risk premiums, we decompose excess returns into expected and unexpected excess returns to examine what determines movements in expected excess returns for equity REITs are more predictable than all other assets examined, due in part to cap rates which contain useful information about the general risk condition in the economy. We also find that the conditional risk premiums (expected excess returns) on EREITs move very closely with those of small cap stocks and much less with those of bonds.     

Forecasting stock market returns: The sum of the parts is more than the whole

We propose forecasting separately the three components of stock market returns—the dividend–price ratio, earnings growth, and price–earnings ratio growth—the sum-of-the-parts (SOP) method. Our method exploits the different time series persistence of the components and obtains out-of-sample R-squares (compared with the historical mean) of more than 1.3% with monthly data and 13.4% with yearly data. This compares with typically negative R-squares obtained in a similar experiment with predictive regressions. The performance of the SOP method comes mainly from the dividend–price ratio and earnings growth components, and the robustness of the method is due to its low estimation error. An investor who timed the market using our method would have had a Sharpe ratio gain of 0.3.     

The long-term role of non-traditional banking in profitability and risk profiles: Evidence from a panel of U.S. banking institutions

The goal of this empirical study is to identify empirically and on a panel basis how non-traditional bank activities affect directly the profitability and risk profiles of the financial institutions involved in such activities. Through a dataset that covers 1725 U.S. financial institutions involved in non-traditional bank activities spanning the period 2000–2013 and the methodology of panel cointegration, the empirical findings document that non-traditional bank activities exert a positive effect on both the profitability and the insolvency risk. The results could be important for regulators given they could serve as a pre-warning signal that sends a clear message to regulators about the potential systemic risk that exists within the financial markets.     

The impact of surprise offer-share adjustments on offer-day returns: evidence from seasoned equity offers

Using a sample of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs), we examine the eleventh-hour information carried by the final offer-share adjustment. We argue that if market participants interpret the final offer-share adjustment as a new information signal regarding the demand for the stocks issued, a greater final offer-share adjustment will affect the offer-day return positively (demand information hypothesis). Alternatively, if investors interpret the final offer-share adjustment as increasing the supply of stocks issued and/or as diluting the value of existing shares, a greater final offer-share adjustment will affect the offer-day returns negatively (price-pressure and dilution hypothesis). We provide empirical evidence that the offer-day returns are positively related to the final offer-share adjustment after controlling for confounding factors, supporting the demand information hypothesis. Our results also remain intact even after controlling for the endogeneity. Overall, our findings suggest that the final offer-share adjustment is another important determinant of offer-day returns, in addition to the final offer-price adjustment that Altinkiliç and Hansen [J Financ Econ 69(2):285–323 (2003)] report.     

Explanatory factors of the inflation news impact on stock returns by sector: The Spanish case

We study the short run response of daily stock prices on the Spanish market to the announcements of inflation news at an industrial level, deepening the potential explanatory factors of this response (risk-free interest rate, risk premium and growth expectations). We observe a positive and significant response of the stock returns in case of “bad news” (total inflation rate higher than expected one) in recession, and also in case of negative inflation surprises (“good news”) in non-economic recession. This behaviour is consistent with the evolution of the company dividend growth expectations, since we observe that the relationship between this theoretical component of the stock price and the unexpected inflation, to a large extent, seems to explain the observed behaviour.     

序数空间中企业战略风险与企业绩效关系研究——基于中国纺织业面板数据分析

依据序数空间中的熵理论,将战略风险转化为企业在战略参考系统内收益排名的下降带来的负面不确定信息,构建序数战略风险度量模型度量企业战略风险,克服了传统的均值方差等度量方法的局限性。运用2001～2009的中国纺织业相关数据,构建面板数据随机效应模型对企业战略风险与绩效关系进行分析,结果表明战略风险和企业的净资产收益率及总资产周转率呈负相关关系,企业非流动资产周转率和股息支付率对企业战略风险正向影响较小。     

The evolution of capital structure and operating performance after leveraged buyouts: Evidence from U.S. corporate tax returns

This study uses corporate tax return data to examine the evolution of firms' financial structure and performance after leveraged buyouts (LBOs) for a comprehensive sample of 317 LBOs taking place between 1995 and 2007. We find little evidence of operating improvements subsequent to an LBO, although consistent with prior studies, we do observe operating improvements in the set of LBO firms that have public financial statements. We also find that firms do not reduce leverage after LBOs, even if they generate excess cash flow. Our results suggest that effecting a sustained change in capital structure is a conscious objective of the LBO structure.     

The effect of ETFs on financial markets: a literature review

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) belong to the fastest growing investment products worldwide. Within 15 years, total assets invested in ETFs have twenty-folded, reaching over $3.7 trillion at the end of 2018. Increasing demand for passive investments, coupled with high liquidity and low transaction costs, are key advantages of ETFs compared to their closest substitutes such as traditional index funds. Besides the continuous growth of ETFs, the Flash Crash in 2010 triggered detailed investigations by regulators on how ETFs affect the financial market. This literature review provides a broad overview of recent academic studies analyzing the effect of ETFs on liquidity, price discovery, volatility, and comovement of the underlying securities.

     

A closer look at return predictability of the US stock market: evidence from new panel variance ratio tests

This paper examines the return predictability of the US stock market using portfolios sorted by size, book-to-market ratio and industry. We use novel panel variance ratio tests, based on the wild bootstrap proposed in this paper, which exhibit desirable size and power properties in small samples. We have found evidence that stock returns have been highly predictable from 1964 to 1996, except for a period leading to the 1987 crash and its aftermath. After 1997, stock returns have been unpredictable overall. At a disaggregated level, we find evidence that large-cap portfolios have been priced more efficiently than small- or medium-cap portfolios; and that the stock returns from high-tech industries are far less predictable than those from non-high-tech industries.