The London Business School with Gower Publishing: Forecast Release: THE GULF WAR: RECESSION AND RECOVERY

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait occurred at a time when many economies were in or heading towards recession. These trends were exacerbated by the Gulf crisis which had adverse effects on consumer and producer confidence. Now that the Gulf war is over, confidence is recovering but against the background of a relatively severe recession. In this Forecast Release we make use of a simple statistical tool to throw some light on how much of the downturn was due to confidence factors and thus to draw implications for the recovery. In broad terms we find that a large part of the US recession, in particular the downturn in consumer spending, was attributable to the effects on confidence of the Gulf crisis. In both the US and the UK, however, the effects on producer confidence were less marked, though here too the analysis suggests that, at its low point, producer confidence was also adversely affected by the crisis in the Gulf. The latest data show that there has been a full recovery in US consumer confidence but that producer confidence on both sides of the Atlantic remains well below pre-Gulf trends. On this basis, therefore, we would expect a further recovery in industry's confidence over the coming months.     

浅议欧洲债务危机及启示

为防止全球经济过度衰退,各国政府统一行动,采取了积极的财政货币政策,最大限度地减少金融危机所带来的影响,而欧元区国家却为此陷入了巨大的债务危机。本文讨论了导致债务危机产生的主要原因及影响,着重探讨债务危机给各国政府带来的启示教训,认为金融监管体系改革、透明化以及政府实行财政、金融改革,实施可持续公共财政是关键因素,对我国政府采取措施,建立一整套全面危机应对体制防范可能的金融风险提出了意见和建议。     

Capital flows and the boom–bust cycle: The case of Estonia

During 2000–2007, Estonia was among the fastest growing emerging market economies, but in late-2008 entered a deep recession. This paper examines shocks, institutions, and policies that have made Estonia's boom–bust cycle so severe. It finds that an open capital account, the prospect for EU entry, and the currency board facilitated massive capital inflows, which led to credit and real estate booms. In late-2008 a domestic slowdown was greatly amplified by the global financial and economic crisis. To resume sustainable growth, the country will need to regain competitiveness and rebalance resources to exports. Estonia's experience underscores the importance for other emerging market economies to retain some flexibility in their macroeconomic frameworks and approach capital account liberalization cautiously.     

金融危机下自由贸易与贸易保护的选择

随着国际金融危机的蔓延与扩展,贸易保护主义也开始抬头,一些国家纷纷采取贸易保护措施。本文根据应对世界经济危机的历史经验和教训,同时运用国际贸易的比较优势原理,分析了在当前国际金融危机下,贸易保护主义将引发国际经济贸易的恶性循环,加剧全球经济的严重衰退,而自由贸易则是各国应对国际金融危机的正确选择。     

Monetary policy,financial uncertainty,and secular stagnation

A monetary policy framework describing how to cope with a financial crisis might alleviate a recession; however, it might also result in subsequent secular stagnation. Based on an empirical New Keynesian model with financial uncertainty, this study investigates how monetary policy can avoid sluggish economic recovery in response to financial shocks. The results show that a protracted sluggish response of an output gap to a financial shock is triggered by inflation targeting, without considering interest rate variations. In such a policy, the uncertainty causes additional sluggish behavior after a sharp reduction in the output gap. In contrast, in a speed limit policy, the output gap recovers rapidly, regardless of the central bank’s approach to interest rate variations, and the uncertainty mitigates reductions in the output gap. Finally, the results are robust under several alternative settings.     

Time-varying combinations of predictive densities using nonlinear filtering

We propose a Bayesian combination approach for multivariate predictive densities which relies upon a distributional state space representation of the combination weights. Several specifications of multivariate time-varying weights are introduced with a particular focus on weight dynamics driven by the past performance of the predictive densities and the use of learning mechanisms. In the proposed approach the model set can be incomplete, meaning that all models can be individually misspecified. A Sequential Monte Carlo method is proposed to approximate the filtering and predictive densities. The combination approach is assessed using statistical and utility-based performance measures for evaluating density forecasts of simulated data, US macroeconomic time series and surveys of stock market prices. Simulation results indicate that, for a set of linear autoregressive models, the combination strategy is successful in selecting, with probability close to one, the true model when the model set is complete and it is able to detect parameter instability when the model set includes the true model that has generated subsamples of data. Also, substantial uncertainty appears in the weights when predictors are similar; residual uncertainty reduces when the model set is complete; and learning reduces this uncertainty. For the macro series we find that incompleteness of the models is relatively large in the 1970’s, the beginning of the 1980’s and during the recent financial crisis, and lower during the Great Moderation; the predicted probabilities of recession accurately compare with the NBER business cycle dating; model weights have substantial uncertainty attached. With respect to returns of the S&P 500 series, we find that an investment strategy using a combination of predictions from professional forecasters and from a white noise model puts more weight on the white noise model in the beginning of the 1990’s and switches to giving more weight to the professional forecasts over time. Information on the complete predictive distribution and not just on some moments turns out to be very important, above all during turbulent times such as the recent financial crisis. More generally, the proposed distributional state space representation offers great flexibility in combining densities.     

Measuring and predicting heterogeneous recessions

This paper examines the usefulness of a more refined business cycle classification for monthly industrial production (IP), beyond the usual distinction between expansions and contractions. Univariate Markov-switching models show that a three regime model is more appropriate than a model with only two regimes. Interestingly, the third regime captures ‘severe recessions’, contrasting the conventional view that the additional third regime represents a ‘recovery’ phase. This is confirmed by means of Markov-switching vector autoregressive models that allow for phase shifts between the cyclical regimes of IP and the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index (LEI). The timing of the severe recession regime mostly corresponds with periods of substantial financial market distress and severe credit squeezes, providing empirical evidence for the ‘financial accelerator’ theory.     

Entry dynamics of self-employment in South Korea

The purpose of this paper is to clarify whether the entry into self-employment was an inevitable move due to economic recession (push hypothesis) or a voluntary move due to entrepreneurship (pull hypothesis) in Korea. It also examines how this decision is affected by changes in socio-economic conditions. The empirical analysis in this study exploited the matched sample for the adjacent months in the Economically Active Population Survey (EAPS) conducted by Korea National Statistical Office in 2000–2004. The empirical results showed that the push aspect of self-employment was strong in Korea over the whole sampled periods. The entry into self-employment in South Korea is largely attributable to economic sluggishness and an increase in unemployment rather than a voluntary transition resulting from entrepreneurship. Policy environment (such as providing information and financial support for new start-ups after the Asian financial crisis), which is a country-specific factor magnified the pushed effects. For the pushed (unprepared) self-employed people, not only is there a need to expand the coverage of vocational training programmes, but also it is vital that social safety nets are strengthened and supplemented.     

The Market Performance of Socially Responsible Investment during Periods of the Economic Cycle – Illustrated Using the Case of FTSE

The debate about socially responsible investment (SRI) portfolio performance compared with its non‐SRI counterparts remains inconclusive. This paper contributes to the debate by adding a new approach, examining the issue of a full economic circle through economic boom, recession and recovery. We compare stock performance of two value‐weighted investment portfolios: FTSE4Good (SRI portfolios) and FTSE 350 (conventional portfolios) from 2004 to 2011 including 2007 to 2009 financial crash. The results indicate the SRI portfolio performed better and recovered its value quicker in post‐crisis than the non‐SRI portfolio, indicating that SRI portfolios are more resilient to economic turmoil and market shocks. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Analytic Network Process model for financial-crisis forecasting

We discuss and develop an imbalance-crisis turning point model to forecast the likelihood of a financial crisis based on an Analytic Network Process framework. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) is a general theory of relative measurement used to derive composite-priority-ratio scales from individual-ratio scales that represent relative influence of factors that interact with respect to control criteria. Through its supermatrix, which is composed of matrices of column priorities, the ANP framework captures the outcome of dependence and feedback within and between clusters of explanatory factors. We argue that our framework is more flexible and is more comprehensive than traditional methods and previous models. We illustrate how the ANP model would be implemented for forecasting the probability of crises.     

The joint impact of labour policies and the “Great Recession” on unemployment in Europe

The paper consists of an empirical analysis of the separate as well as joint impacts on total and youth unemployment of indicators of labour market policies on the one hand, and the financial crisis associated with the “Great Recession” on the other. In particular, we investigate labour market data in the past two decades for the Enlarged Europe and adopt a variable accounting for the idiosyncratic severity shock of the crisis. This time-varying and country-specific crisis variable enables us to test empirically and in a novel way the joint impact of labour market policies and the economic crisis on labour market dynamics even when accounting for common macro shocks.     

Forecasting systemic impact in financial networks

We propose a methodology for forecasting the systemic impact of financial institutions in interconnected systems. Utilizing a five-year sample including the 2008/9 financial crisis, we demonstrate how the approach can be used for the timely systemic risk monitoring of large European banks and insurance companies. We predict firms’ systemic relevance as the marginal impact of individual downside risks on systemic distress. So-called systemic risk betas account for a company’s position within the network of financial interdependencies, in addition to its balance sheet characteristics and its exposure to general market conditions. Relying only on publicly available daily market data, we determine time-varying systemic risk networks, and forecast the systemic relevance on a quarterly basis. Our empirical findings reveal time-varying risk channels and firms’ specific roles as risk transmitters and/or risk recipients.     

To bail-out or to bail-in? Answers from an agent-based model

Since the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis almost half a trillion euros have been spent to financially assist EU member states in taxpayer-funded bail-outs. These crisis resolutions are often accompanied by austerity programs causing political and social friction on both domestic and international levels. The question of how to resolve failing financial institutions, and how this depends on economic preconditions, is therefore a pressing and controversial issue of vast political importance. In this work we employ an agent-based model to study the economic and financial ramifications of three highly relevant crisis resolution mechanisms. To establish the validity of the model we show that it reproduces a series of key stylized facts of the financial and real economy. The distressed institution can either be closed via a purchase & assumption transaction, it can be bailed-out using taxpayer money, or it may be bailed-in in a debt-to-equity conversion. We find that for an economy characterized by low unemployment and high productivity the optimal crisis resolution with respect to financial stability and economic productivity is to close the distressed institution. For economies in recession with high unemployment the bail-in tool provides the most efficient crisis resolution mechanism. Under no circumstances do taxpayer-funded bail-out schemes outperform bail-ins with private sector involvement.     

Predictability in sovereign bond returns using technical trading rules: Do developed and emerging markets differ?

The study examines the predictability of 48 sovereign bond markets based on a strategy of 27,000 technical trading rules. These rules represent four popular trading rule classes, they are: moving average, filtering, support and resistance, and channel breakout rules, with numerous variants in each class. Empirical results show that (i) investing in sovereign bond markets is predictable, based on the buy-sell signals generated by trading rules, with the predictability of the emerging Asian markets being significantly higher than those of the advanced markets; (ii) the predictability is generally higher when the US tightens its monetary policies or undergoes recession or a financial crisis; (iii) two-thirds of sovereign bond markets have a higher predictability when we use a machine learning algorithm to determine the best trading rule strategy; and (iv) the predictability of a sovereign bond market is higher when the economy has a less effective government, lower regulatory quality, lower degree of financial openness, higher political risk, lower income and faster real money growth. Our results suggest that shocks originating from US monetary policy or economic conditions could have a considerable spillover effect on sovereign bond markets, particularly the emerging Asian markets.     

2014 – a year of widening monetary divergence

The Fed's December decision marks a change in active monetary policies. It is a natural consequence of the divergence in global growth that was one of the key developments of 2013. Over the course of the year, US and UK activity strengthened, remarkably so in the case of the UK where at the beginning of the year the talk was of a triple‐dip recession. Chinese activity held up, if below the stellar growth rates of the pre‐crisis years. Japan is beginning to see some dividend from Abenomics, but rather less than expected; while the Eurozone economy is slowing again after showing some brief strength in Q2, and may fall back into recession. Diverging growth was clearly signalled by diverging broad money growth earlier in the year…     

企业财务风险的识别方法研究

市场经济的确立,伴随着风险的出现,要求企业经营决策不仅要考虑到经济性、收益性,而且要考虑风险性,而财务风险管控的重点则是对可能出现的主要财务风险进行超前的识别和管理,以避免由财务风险转化为财务危机和生存危机,从而使企业获得持续生存和持续发展。基于上述背景,本文在对国内外财务风险识别领域的研究成果进行总结和评价的基础上,从定性和定量角度对财务风险的识别方法进行深入、系统的探讨,以期建立更加完善的财务风险识别体系。     

危机后发达国家的非传统货币政策研究

次贷危机爆发以后,各国纷纷实行非传统的货币政策来刺激经济。自2009年下半年以来,随着一些国家的经济状况开始恢复,人们开始担心通货膨胀的出现,因此研究非传统货币政策何时退出就成为当前各国宏观经济保持稳定的一个重要任务。发达国家实行非传统货币政策的原因在于传统的货币政策传导机制,即从市场基准利率向短期利率和长期利率的传导受阻。因此非传统货币政策实施的目的在于降低短期利率预期和风险溢价,同时提高通胀预期,降低长期实际利率,最终起到刺激实体经济的作用。文章以美国为例,考察了美国金融指标、通胀指标和宏观经济指标,得出结论:传统的货币政策传导机制的恢复还未得到充分的确认。另外,由于欧洲债务危机的出现给全球经济复苏蒙上阴影,因此全面退出非传统货币政策尚不具备条件。但是在全球化时代,寻求大国之间退出策略的合作和协调是十分必要的。     

中国战略调整中的FDI模式选择

面对世界范围内的金融危机和经济衰退,中国企业应把握机遇,调整FDI战略,利用发达国家缩减对外投资的机会,加大对外投资力度。FDI模式选择对于我国企业顺利开展对外投资活动至关重要,其受到内部和外部诸多因素的影响。文中分析了影响FDI模式选择的因素,对于我国企业FDI模式选择提出了建议。     

Fed Credit Policy: What is a Lender of Last Resort?

Discussions of the Fed׳s financial crisis lending – and its role as “Lender of Last Resort” more generally – often overlook the distinction between monetary policy and credit policy. Central bank actions constitute monetary policy if they alter the quantity of the bank׳s monetary liabilities, but constitute credit policy if they alter the composition of the bank׳s portfolio without affecting the outstanding amount of monetary liabilities. In the 19th century, Henry Thornton and Walter Bagehot advocated Lender of Last Resort policies as a means of expanding the money supply when the demand for money surged in a crisis. In contrast, the Fed׳s recent crisis lending for the most part left its outstanding monetary liabilities unaffected, and thus represented credit policy, not Lender of Last Resort activity. Credit allocation in a crisis is potentially costly because it affects market participants׳ beliefs about the likelihood of future central bank rescues, which in turn reduces their incentive to protect themselves against financial distress and thus exacerbates financial instability. Credible limits on credit policy thus are critical to central banks׳ core policy mission. One path to establishing such limits is to create “living wills” that detail how to resolve large, complex financial firms without government support.     

防范与控制：金融危机下的企业财务风险应对策略----金融危机对我国企业财务风险的影响及传导机制

在当前国际金融危机仍在蔓延和深化、世界经济陷入衰退的背景下，中国企业如何在新一轮的国际化产业整合与重塑中突出重围、走向光明，是一个值得认真研究和反思的重大战略怀课题。