Mean-variance cointegration and the expectations hypothesis

The present paper sheds further light on a well-known (alleged) violation of the expectations hypothesis of the term structure (EHT): the frequent finding of unit roots in interest rate spreads. We show that the EHT implies (i) that the nonstationarity stems from the holding premium, which is hence (ii) cointegrated with the spread. In a stochastic discount factor framework, we model the premium as being driven by the integrated variance of excess returns. Introducing the concept of mean-variance cointegration, we actually find cointegration relations between the conditional first and second moment of US bond data.     

VIX futures term structure and the expectations hypothesis

Tests of the expectations hypothesis reveal that the slope of the VIX futures term structure predicts the direction but not the magnitude of the evolution of the short-end of the curve, but predicts neither the direction nor the magnitude of short-term changes in the long-end of the curve. Relative value seeking spread trades, constructed to exploit such violations, deliver excess returns with annualized Sharpe ratios equal or greater than those of volatility-writing strategies deployed by VIX ETN's for a majority of the 32 spread trade combinations tested. I demonstrate that profits from beta-neutral variations of the spread trades, which are not compensation for taking on equity downside risk by design, are propagated by inflows of capital into VIX futures markets, after controlling for factors that measure changes in the availability of hedge fund capital, risk appetite, and momentum. At the heart of profits, and by extension the term structure anomalies, is a disproportionally elevated basis propagated by long VIX demand that enters the futures market through ETN channels.     

Dual foreign currency markets and the role of expectations: Evidence from the Pacific Basin countries

This paper analyzes the role of expectations about the government policy in the official foreign currency market in determining the black market premium. We use data for the recent float from six emerging markets of the Pacific Basin where active black markets for foreign currency exist, namely, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. To test the impact of anticipated and unanticipated shocks to the official exchange rate on the black market premium, we employ the two-step procedure of Hoffman et al. [Hoffman, D.L., Low, S.A., Schlagenhauf, D.E., 1984. Tests of rationality, neutrality and market efficiency: a Monte Carlo analysis of alternative test statistics. J. Monet. Econ. 14, 339–363] which provides corrected F-statistics and allows us to draw valid inference in the presence of generated regressors. The main finding of our analysis is that anticipated and unanticipated shocks to the official exchange rate have an impact on the black market premium in all six Pacific Basin countries. These results suggest that portfolio balance models provide the suitable theoretical framework for analyzing the behaviour of the black market premium in the markets for foreign currency in the Pacific Basin countries. Furthermore, this implies that economic agents in these countries are sensitive to expected returns in foreign exchange.     

Unraveling the Financial Contagion in European Stock Markets During Financial Crises: Multi-Timescale Analysis

The article investigates the evidence of financial contagion and market integration in selected European equity markets during nine major crises across regions. The focus is to identify whether (i) contagion evidence is pure or fundamental and (ii) dynamic evolution of integration is in the short run or long run. Wavelet decomposition in both its discrete and continuous forms is used. The findings reveal the following: (i) prior to the subprime crisis, contagion effects generated short-term shocks. The most recent US subprime crisis, however, reveals the evidence of fundamental based contagion. (ii) We find increasing short-run and long-run stock market integration, driven by several stages of the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), questioning the ultimate benefits of formal entry into EMU membership.     

The role of future economic conditions in the cross-section of stock returns: Evidence from the US and UK

Our study investigates the explanatory power of future economic conditions on individual stock returns in the US and UK equity markets. We analyse a new trading strategy that is based on rational forecasts of future real activity. In addition, we specifically examine the performance of this trading strategy applied to two different classifications of stocks – procyclical stocks and countercyclical stocks. Our findings indicate a strong persistence in the relationship between returns on pro-cyclical stocks and the business cycle. However, such persistence is not present when moving to counter-cyclical stocks in the US and the UK. From this we suggest that US and UK equity investors who predict future real activity accurately can improve their investment profitability by longing pro-cyclical stocks when they expect future economic conditions to be above the long-run trend and shorting those stocks when future activity is anticipated to be below the steady state.     

消费信贷与经济增长的协动关系研究

经济增长是一国或地区最重要的目标,只有长期的经济发展才能提升全民的福祉和生活水平。消费是生产的出发点,同时也是最终的归宿。采用离散选择模型对经济增长与短期消费信贷和长期消费信贷的关系进行分析,结果表明,长期消费信贷对经济增长的拉动效应较明显,有效地发挥和挖掘消费信贷带动的长期消费对扩大内需和经济健康稳定发展至关重要。     

The changing relationship between earnings expectations and earnings for value and growth stocks during Reg FD

Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) altered the voluntary disclosure practices of firms with publicly traded securities, thereby affecting relationships between value and growth stock expectations and actual earnings. The results show that earnings forecasts for both stock groups are biased but that bias is less after the introduction of Reg FD. In fact, the difference in pre/post FD forecast bias is larger for growth stocks, suggesting that before Reg FD, analysts did not just misinterpret news but consciously tried to maintain relationships with growth firm managers. However, Reg FD limited these relationships severing the monetary advantage that might be gained from manipulating forecasts.     

The rise of decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges: Evaluating the role of airdrops and governance tokens

While most cryptocurrency financial activity is conducted on centralized exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi) has experienced a particular surge with roughly 90,000 users at the start of 2020 to 4.28 million by the end of 2021. Based on data collected from a popular crypto-asset data aggregation service and manually collected data, we document the rapid growth in decentralized exchanges and their differences in volume and price dynamics from centralized exchanges. Next, we investigate the role of airdrops and governance tokens as mechanisms for expanding the base of users and driving up the value of an exchange. While our results do not have a causal interpretation, they provide preliminary evidence that both mechanisms are effective for expanding and strengthening networks, particularly for decentralized exchanges. We also exploit two event studies that suggest the growth in decentralized exchanges is not driven by speculation, but at least partially by value-creating cybersecurity benefits.     

Rethinking the relationship between local government and financial markets

In the past 20 years local governments have increasingly looked to financial markets for capital financing. The markets want local governments to change their accounting systems and become more transparent, in order to offer information that is more appropriate to private sector investors. The authors argue that this approach is only a partial solution, and that local government and financial institutions would both benefit from changes in their relationships. The article identifies a double knowledge gap that needs to be filled if the public and private sectors want to work together as long-term financial partners.     

中老年消费不平等的度量与分解:来自CHARLS的经验证据

利用CHARLS数据考量中老年人的消费不平等问题,结果发现：2011-2015年中老年家庭总消费水平快速上升,同时不平等程度进一步扩大。从消费分类上看,医疗保健对中老年人消费水平影响最大;从年龄效应上看,中老年群体不平等在67岁以后开始上升。随着中国经济快速发展,后出生中老年群体会积累更多财富,在基本衣食需求满足后,消费不平等的代际效应更多体现在家庭用品、教育娱乐和医疗保健方面。     

中国金融发展与城市化关系的区域差异

本文运用面板单位根检验、协整检验以及误差修正模型等计量方法,对中国1986-2005年东、中、西部地区的金融发展与城市化的关系进行了实证研究。结果表明中国金融发展与城市化二者之间的关系呈现出明显的区域差异性:长期而言,东、中、西部地区金融发展都不是城市化的原因,也就是说三大地区金融发展都没有促进城市化进程。东、中部地区金融发展与城市化之间具有城市化引导金融发展的单向长期因果关系;东部地区金融发展与经济增长之间还具有城市化引导金融发展的短期因果关系。据此,本文最后提出了简短的对策与建议。     

The First‐ and Second‐Hand Effect of Analysts' Stock Recommendations: Evidence from the Swiss Stock Market

This paper empirically investigates the impact of both the first release of analysts' stock recommendations to a limited clientele and the subsequent dissemination of the same information in a major newspaper to a broader audience. For a sample of 1460 stock recommendations published in FuW, Switzerland's major financial newspaper, significant positive abnormal returns on the day of the original release of buy recommendations and on the day of publication in FuW are documented. Tests of the price pressure and information hypotheses reveal that analysts' recommendations contain new information, which is quickly incorporated in the stock prices on the first release of this information. In contrast, the statistically significant announcement effects associated with the subsequent publication can be primarily ascribed to price pressure in the underlying securities.     

Evidence on the Relationship between Low Income and Poor Health: Is the Government Doing Enough?

The government's report, Opportunity for All: Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion (Department of Social Security, 1999), identified poor health as one of the major problems associated with low income. However, much of the available evidence on the relationship between income and health is of little help in forming policies to reduce health inequalities, as it has tended to be based on cross‐section surveys and is therefore unable to shed much light on causal effects. Here, we make use of two British longitudinal datasets to examine the longer‐term influences of income on health within a life‐course perspective. We then use the results of our analysis to provide a brief critical assessment of the likely success of the government's anti‐poverty strategy in reducing health inequalities. A more detailed assessment of government policy in this respect can be found in Benzeval et al. (forthcoming).     

Perceptions of the true and fair view concept: an empirical investigation

If major groups of financial reporting participants differ in their perceptions of standards for financial reporting quality, such as 'true and fair view', 'present fairly' and 'fair presentation', a financial reporting expectation gap may occur. This article reports the results of a survey designed to explore this potential gap by determining New Zealand financial directors', auditors' and shareholders' perceptions of terms associated with financial reporting quality.
The results show that a clear majority of all three groups share similar perceptions of the 'true and fair view'; but perceive 'true and fair view' to be quite different from 'fairly presents' and 'fair presentation', terms the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants' (2005) describes as equivalent to 'true and fair view'. Thus there appears to be a perception gap between the respondents surveyed and the Institute. The findings also support a literal rather than a technical interpretation of 'true and fair view'; that respondents do not perceive 'true and fair view' as compliance with GAAP; and that 'true' ('truth' in accounting), the word separating 'true and fair view' from terms that include only 'fair', may be perceived as a key factor required for financial reporting quality.     

Consumption and Wage Inequality in the US: The Dynamics of the Last Three Decades

In this paper, we look at the evolution of consumption and wage inequality from 1980 to 2016 in the US. We use data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX) and the Current Population Survey (CPS) to look at differences in consumption and wages across groups in the population defined by educational attainment of the household head and year-of-birth cohort. We show that the results obtained by Attanasio and Davis (1996) for non-durable consumption still hold in more recent decades. In addition to non-durable consumption and services, we look at inequality measured in terms of expenditure on and stock of vehicles. The advantages of looking at these measures are that information on cars is typically measured more accurately than other components of expenditure and consumers are more likely to react by adjusting their stock of vehicles on the basis of long-term expectations about their economic prospects.     

银保合作的现状及政策建议

银保合作经过10多年的发展,银行网点代理销售保险产品业务渐已成为保险公司重要的业务增长点和销售渠道,很多保险公司的保费收入中,50%以上来自银保销售渠道,有的保险公司甚至达到70%以上。同样,在商业银行中,代理销售个人保险业务,已成为个人金融的一项重要业务,更是成为带来中间业务收入的主要代理业务。本文就当前银保合作的现状和问题进行了分析,并提出相应的政策建议。     

Can the choice of interpolation method explain the difference between swap prices and futures prices?

The standard model linking the swap rate to the rates in a contemporaneous strip of futures interest rate contracts typically produces biased estimates of the swap rate. Institutional differences usually require some form of interpolation to be employed and may in principle explain this empirical result. Using Australian data, we find evidence consistent with this explanation and show that model performance is greatly improved if an alternative interpolation method is used. In doing so, we also provide the first published Australian evidence on the accuracy of the futures‐based approach to pricing interest rate swaps.     

The Heterogeneous Responses of Consumption between Poor and Rich to Government Spending Shocks

Government spending shocks have substantially different effects on consumers across the income distribution: consumption increases for the poor whereas it decreases for the rich in response to a rise in government expenditure. I shed light on this issue by incorporating a progressive tax scheme and productive public expenditure into a heterogeneous agent model economy with indivisible labor. The model economy is able to successfully match aggregate and disaggregate effects of government spending shocks on consumption. When the government increases its spending and accompanies it by a rise in tax progressivity, the poor are employed and increase their consumption since after‐tax wage rates increase while the rich decrease their consumption because of a fall in after‐tax wage rates.     

分项收入不平等效应与收入结构的优化

从分项收入角度考察城乡收入不平等,不仅能判断产生收入不平等的原因,还能判断什么分项收入有利于增加收入总量;不仅能量化收入不平等效应,还能根据收入不平等效应来优化收入结构。研究发现,分项收入具有性质不同、大小不等的收入不平等效应,其中工资性收入扩大收入不平等的效应最强、转移性收入次之、财产性收入最小;经营性收入是唯一具有缩小收入不平等效应的分项收入。据此,我们认为,城乡居民收入结构优化的方向应该是,稳定维持工资性收入、适当调整转移性收入、适度控制财产性收入并努力增加经营性收入。