The Long‐Run Fisher Effect: Can It Be Tested?

In this paper, I provide a plausible explanation as to why past studies have been unable to find support for the long-run Fisher effect. My argument is that exogenous shocks to the inflation rates in industrialized economies have not produced the permanent change to inflation necessary for testing the Fisher effect. Instead of finding a nonstationary, unit-root process for inflation like previous Fisher effect studies, here each country's inflation rate is found to follow a mean-reverting, fractionally integrated, long-memory process. Applying a bivariate, maximum likelihood estimator to a multivariate, fractionally integrated model of inflation and nominal interest, I find that the estimated inflation rates in 17 developed countries are highly persistent, fractionally integrated, mean-reverting processes with order of integration parameters significantly less than one. Since a permanent change to inflation has not occurred, a test of whether a permanent change to inflation affects the nominal interest rate one-for-one will be uninformative as to the truth or fallacy of the Fisher effect hypothesis.     

Mean reversion of short-run interest rates: empirical evidence from new EU countries

This article deals with the analysis of the mean reversion property of short-term interest rates in Central and Eastern European countries, using daily data from January 2000 to December 2008. For this purpose, we use long memory (fractionally integrated) models, and employ non-parametric, semi-parametric and parametric techniques to check if our results are robust across different methods. The results indicate that the mean reversion only takes place in the case of Hungary. For the remaining countries, the short-term interest rates are clearly non-stationary and non-mean reverting. Allowing for one break in the data, the break date takes place about 2001/2003 in all the series except in Lithuania, where the break occurs in 2007. In general, we observe an increase in the degree of dependence after the break in the majority of the series.     

Modeling International Long-Term Interest Rates

This study investigates the relationship among interest rates on the long-term government bonds of five industrialized countries. Both standard and new unit root tests are applied, all of which confirm the presence of exactly one unit root. New cointegration tests are also applied to these data. In contrast to previous research on short-term bonds, stock prices, and exchange rates, these results find little evidence of cointegration among the five long-term interest rate series. Thus, when modeling or forecasting these central government long-term bond yields, one may assume separate sets of fundamentals and difference the data to achieve stationarity. An error correction model may not be appropriate.     

Foreign exchange,fractional cointegration and the implied–realized volatility relation

Almost all relevant literature has characterized implied volatility as a biased predictor of realized volatility. In this paper we provide new time series techniques to investigate the validity of this finding in several foreign exchange options markets, including the Euro market. First, we develop a new fractional cointegration test that is shown to be robust to both stationary and non-stationary regions. Second, we employ both intra-day and daily data to measure realized volatility in order to assess the relevance of data frequency in resolving the bias. Third, we use data on implied volatility traded on the market. In contrast to previous studies, we show that the frequency of data used for measuring realized volatility within a fractionally cointegrating framework is important for the results of unbiasedness tests. Significantly, for many popular exchange rates, the use of intra-day rather than daily data affects the emergence of a different bias, as the possibility of a fractionally integrated risk premium admits itself!     

Fractional cointegration and real exchange rates

This paper uses fractional integration and cointegration to model the DM-US dollar and the yen-US dollar real exchange rates in terms of both monetary and real factors, more specifically real interest rate and labour productivity differentials. We find that whilst the individual series may be integrated of order 1, their long-run relationship might have a fractionally cointegrated structure. This means that mean reversion occurs, consistently with the findings of other studies. However, it also indicates, in contrast to such studies, that the cointegrating relationship possesses long memory. In other words, the error correction term responds slowly to shocks, implying that deviations from equilibrium are long-lived. It appears that only a combination of real and monetary variables can accurately track down the movements of real exchange rates.     

Multi-factor Affine Term Structure Model with Single Regime Shift: Real Term Structure under Zero Interest Rate

In this paper, we extend the one-factor, single regime shift, affine term structure model with time-dependent regime-shift probability to a multi-factor model. We model the nominal interest rate and the expected inflation rate, and estimate the term structure of the real interest rate in the Japanese government bond market using inflation-indexed bond data under zero interest rates. Incorporating the economic structure that the Bank of Japan terminates the zero interest rate when the expected inflation rate gets out of deflationary regime, we estimate the yield curve of the real interest rate for less than 10 years, consistent with the expectation of the market participants in the Japanese government bond market, where inflation-indexed bonds are traded for only around 10 years.     

The interest rate effects of government bond purchases away from the lower bound

I analyze the recent experience of unconventional monetary policy in Sweden to study the interest rate transmission mechanisms of government bond purchases when interest rates are away from the lower bound. Using dynamic term structure models and event study regressions I find that government bond purchases have important portfolio balance and signaling effects. The signaling channel operates mainly by lowering short-rate expectations in the intermediate segment of the yield curve, while the portfolio balance channel is effective in lowering longer maturity term premia. In addition, I find that target interest rate policy and government bond purchases operate in different segments of the yield curve. This suggests that a combination of the two policies can be used to lower interest rates across the whole maturity spectrum, making monetary policy more expansionary.     

Convergence of Real Capital Market Interest Rates—Evidence from Inflation Indexed Bonds

This paper investigates the convergence of long‐term ex ante real interest rates (RIRs) obtained from Canadian, French, UK, and U.S. inflation indexed government bonds. In contrast to previous research, our evidence suggests full convergence in the long run and, hence, capital market integration. For the same sample period, global convergence is rejected for RIRs measured in conventional terms. From these results, we conclude that previous tests of the long‐run real interest rate parity might have suffered from weak measurement of real capital market interest rates.     

The Structural Relation Between Mortgage and Market Interest Rates

This paper analyzes the dynamic relationship between primary and secondary mortgage markets and the short-term and long-term market interest rates. Using a series of monthly data on fixed rate mortgage rates and GNMA rates, we explore the dependence and speed of adjustment in these primary and secondary mortgage rates to each other as well as to the long and short-term government rates. The results indicate that residential mortgage rates in general, appear to follow the long-term rate and are not very sensitive to movements in the short-term interest rate.     

Tax Clientele Effects in the Term Structure of UK Interest Rates

This paper tests for tax clientele effects in the term structure of UK interest rates. Five empirical models of the term structure of interest rates, incorporating tax effects, are estimated with daily data covering the period 31 March, 1995 to 3 August, 1995. In May 1995, the British government announced its intention to eliminate the tax exemption on capital gains from government bonds, but subsequently in July 1995 backtracked on some of its initial proposals. This period therefore forms the basis of a crude natural experiment in the sense that it provides an opportunity to examine tax clientele effects 'before' and 'after' an event which should have levelled greatly the taxing of government bonds. The empirical analysis suggests large tax clientele effects. However, there is little evidence of tax-specific term structures of interest rates.     

Government financing decisions and asset returns

This paper presents an empirical investigation of the relation between government financing decisions and asset returns. In particular, the focus is on whether a substitution of debt financing for tax financing of a given level of expenditures is associated with an increase in interest rates. The paper brings a different perspective to empirical investigations of government fiscal policies by examining the response of asset prices in an efficient capital market to such policies rather than focusing on aggregate consumption behavior. The results are consistent with the idea that asset prices are unrelated to how the government finances its expenditures. The results, however, also indicate that the capital market is not indifferent with respect to the level of government expenditures as higher interest rates are associated with increases in government purchases.     

Pricing default swaps: Empirical evidence

In this paper we compare market prices of credit default swaps with model prices. We show that a simple reduced form model outperforms directly comparing bonds' credit spreads to default swap premiums. We find that the model yields unbiased premium estimates for default swaps on investment grade issuers, but only if we use swap or repo rates as proxy for default-free interest rates. This indicates that the government curve is no longer seen as the reference default-free curve. We also show that the model is relatively insensitive to the value of the assumed recovery rate.     

Accuracy of International Interest Rate Forecasts

This study exploits a unique data source with contemporaneous forecasts of three-month Euromarket interest rates for five different countries. Professional forecasts are explored in a way that avoids two limitations of previous research. First, rather than being restricted to just U.S. interest rates, data are used for five different countries: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Switzerland. Second, the study relies upon data gathered on a single date, rather than over a period of weeks. Consensus forecasts are evaluated against two naive models: a no-change model and a forward rate forecast. In general, the consensus forecasts prove superior to the no-change forecast. The consensus measures, though, are found to be inferior to the forward rate forecast. This is true even considering the dramatic success of the banks in forecasting U.S. rates in this period. However, if the spectacular, and perhaps uniquely successful U.S. results are excluded from consideration, the banks proved dramatically inferior to the forward rate of interest in forecasting interest rates. Thus, the ability of these banks to forecast three-month interest rates for these five countries exceeds that of a no-change forecast, but falls below the forecasting ability of the forward rate.     

International capital flows and U.S. interest rates

Foreign purchases of U.S. government bonds have an economically large and statistically significant impact on long-term interest rates. While the dramatic reductions in both long-term inflation expectations and the volatility of long rates contributed much to the decline of long rates in the 1990s, more recently foreign flows have become important. Controlling for various factors, we estimate that absent the substantial foreign inflows into U.S. government bonds the 10-year Treasury yield would be 80 basis points higher. Our results are robust to a number of alternative specifications.     

地方政府债券发行如何影响贷款利率？

基于2015—2021年31个省（区、市）的面板数据,采用时间和个体双向固定效应模型实证检验地方政府债券发行如何影响贷款利率。结果发现,地方政府债券发行会通过影响上海银行间同业拆放利率（Shibor）,促进贷款利率下行,尤其在西部欠发达地区的影响效应最为明显。鉴于此,应注重积极的财政政策与稳健的货币政策协调配合,合理安排地方政府债券发行的规模和频次,同时做好市场预期引导,增强货币政策调控效果。     

On the social usefulness of fractional reserve banking

In this paper we argue that if monetary policy has insufficient deflation, private agents have incentives to set up alternative payment systems like fractionally backed bank deposits, which pay interest on the means of payment. In a competitive environment with free entry, these alternative systems are inherently fragile in the sense that they are subject to socially costly bank runs. These social costs are not internalized by private individuals and banks and may exceed their social benefits. We argue that as communication technologies improve, the social benefits of fractional reserve banking decrease, but the private benefits may still exceed the private costs so that such systems continue to be used. In such situations, 100% reserve requirements are optimal.     

Fiscal Activism and the Zero Nominal Interest Rate Bound

In an economy where the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates is an occasionally binding constraint and the government lacks a commitment technology, it may be desirable for society to appoint a policymaker who cares less about government spending stabilization relative to inflation and output gap stabilization than the private sector does. A policymaker of this type uses government spending more elastically to stabilize the economy. At the zero lower bound, the anticipation of aggressive fiscal expansions in future liquidity trap situations increases inflation expectations and lowers real interest rates, thereby mitigating the decline in output and inflation.     

主要经济体2011年经济形势与货币政策走向分析

该文展望了各主要经济体2011年经济形势与货币政策走向。分析指出,美国政府将维持＂双扩张＂政策,年底之前加息的可能性不大;欧元区复苏缓慢,下半年有可能加息;英国通胀压力增大,可能于上半年加息;日本政府面临减少债务还是克服通缩的两难选择;发展中国家完成退出战略,将进入加息通道。     

Does government ideology matter in monetary policy? A panel data analysis for OECD countries

This paper examines whether government ideology has influenced monetary policy in OECD countries. We use quarterly data in the 1980.1–2005.4 period and exclude EMU countries. Our Taylor-rule specification focuses on the interactions of a new time-variant index of central bank independence with government ideology. The results show that leftist governments have somewhat lower short-term nominal interest rates than rightwing governments when central bank independence is low. In contrast, short-term nominal interest rates are higher under leftist governments when central bank independence is high. The effect is more pronounced when exchange rates are flexible. Our findings are compatible with the view that leftist governments, in an attempt to deflect blame of their traditional constituencies, have pushed market-oriented policies by delegating monetary policy to conservative central bankers.     

Rational expectations and the effects of government debt

This paper incorporates the effects of government debt into a standard rational expectations macroeconomic model. Due to limited current information, even when the most extreme propositions about fiscal neutrality are true, there are output and interest rate effects of unanticipated changes in government debt. Therefore the observation of a positive correlation between government deficits and output or interest rates does not imply that government bonds are net wealth.