Earnings volatility,ambiguity, and crisis-period stock returns

Financial crises are marked by substantial increases in ambiguity where prices appear to decouple from fundamentals. Consistent with ambiguity-based asset pricing theories, we find that ambiguity concerns are more severe for firms with higher earnings volatility, causing investors to demand a higher ambiguity premium for such firms. While there is no relation between earnings volatility and stock returns under normal conditions, there is a significant negative relation between crisis-period stock returns and prior earnings volatility. The effect is stronger in firms with low institutional ownership and low analyst following, consistent with ambiguity concerns being greatest amongst firms with unsophisticated investors.     

Bank size, market concentration, and bank earnings volatility in the US

We examine whether bank earnings volatility depends on bank size and the degree of concentration in the banking sector. Using quarterly data for non-investment banks in the United States for the period 2004Q1-2009Q4 and controlling for the quality of management, leverage, and diversification, we find that bank size reduces return volatility. The negative impact of bank size on bank earnings volatility decreases (in absolute terms) with market concentration. We also find that larger banks located in concentrated markets have experienced higher volatility during the recent financial crisis.     

The volume–volatility relationship and the opening of the Korean stock market to foreign investors after the financial turmoil in 1997

This paper investigates the stock volatility–volume relation in the Korean market for the period 1995–2001. Previous research examined the impact of liberalization on the Korean stock market up to the period before the financial turmoil in 1997 although the crucial measures of the liberalization were introduced after the crisis under the International Monetary Fund program. One of the major features of the reformation was the financial opening to foreign investors. In this study the ‘total’ trading volume is separated into the domestic investors’ and the foreign investors’ volume. By doing this the information used by two different groups of traders can be separated. Further, in addition to the absolute value of the returns and their squares we use the conditional volatility from a GARCH-type model as an alternative measure of stock volatility. The following observations, among other things, are noted about the volume–volatility causal relationship. First, for the entire period there is a strong bidirectional feedback between volume and volatility. In most cases this causal relationship is robust to the measures of volume and volatility used. Second, volatility is related only to ‘domestic’ volume before the crisis whereas after the crisis a bidirectional feedback relation between ‘foreign’ volume and volatility begins to exist. In other words, ‘foreign’ volume tends to have more information about volatility in recent years, which suggests the increased importance of ‘foreign’ volume as an information variable.      

Conditional volatility persistence and volatility spillovers in the foreign exchange market

I investigate the magnitudes and determinants of volatility spillovers in the foreign exchange (FX) market, using realized measures of volatility and heterogeneous autoregressive (HAR) models. I confirm both meteor shower effects (i.e., inter-regional volatility spillovers) and heat wave effects (i.e., intra-regional volatility spillovers) in the FX market. Furthermore, I find that conditional volatility persistence is the dominant channel linking the changing market states of each region to future volatility and its spillovers. Market state variables contribute to more than half of the explanatory power in predicting conditional volatility persistence, with the model that calibrates volatility persistence and spillovers conditionally on market states performing statistically and economically better. The utilization of market state variables significantly extends our understanding of the economic mechanisms of volatility persistence and spillovers and sheds new light on econometric techniques for volatility modeling and forecasting.     

A link between complete models with stochastic volatility and ARCH models

In this paper, we propose a heteroskedastic model in discrete time which converges, when the sampling interval goes to zero, towards the complete model with stochastic volatility in continuous time described in Hobson and Rogers (1998). Then, we study its stationarity and moment properties. In particular, we exhibit a specific model which shares many properties with the GARCH(1,1) model, establishing a clear link between the two approaches. We also prove the consistency of the pseudo conditional likelihood maximum estimates for this specific model.Received: December 2002Mathematics Subject Classification: 90A09, 60J60, 62M05JEL Classification: C32This work was supported in part by Dynstoch European network. Thanks to David Hobson for introducing me to these models, and to Valentine Genon-Catalot for numerous and very fruitful discussion on this work. The author is also grateful to Uwe Kuchler for various helpful suggestions, and to two referees and an associate editor for their comments and suggestions.     

Distribution forecast targeting in an open-economy,macroeconomic volatility and financial implications

In an open-economy faced with parameter uncertainty, this paper uses distribution forecasts to investigate the impact of alternative inflation targeting policies on macroeconomic volatility and their potential implications on financial stability. Theoretically, Domestic Inflation Targeting (DIT) leads to less volatility than Consumer Price Index Inflation Targeting (CPIIT) for several macroeconomic variables and, in particular, for the interest rate. Empirically, a positive relationship between interest rate volatility and financial instability emerges for the US, UK and Sweden since the early 1990s. Bridging theory and empirical evidence, we conclude that the choice of the inflation targeting regime has an important impact on macroeconomic volatility and potential implications for financial stability.     

On the volatility spillover between lslamic and conventional stock markets: A quantile regression analysis

This paper aims at analyzing the degree and structure of interdependencies in terms of volatility (transmission, contagion) between Islamic and conventional stock markets on calm periods and at times of financial fragility and crisis. We focused on the recent financial instability periods and used the Quantile Regression-based GARCH model. Main results lead to very interesting conclusions. First, it has been found that Islamic stock markets are not totally immune to the global financial crisis. Second, a very strong interdependence is sensed from the conventional to the Islamic stock markets, especially, from the conventional developed markets to the Islamic Emerging and Arab markets and to the Islamic developed markets. Finally, it has been proved that the interdependencies from conventional to Islamic markets are propagated between Islamic markets. Our findings suggest that the Islamic finance industry does not seem able to provide cushion against economic and financial shocks that affect conventional markets.     

Options and earnings announcements: an empirical study of volatility, trading volume, open interest and liquidity

In this paper we study the impact of earnings announcements on implied volatility, trading volume, open interest and spreads in the stock options market. We find that implied volatility increases before announcement days and drops afterwards. Also option trading volume is higher around announcement days. During the days before the announcement open interest tends to increase, while it returns to regular levels afterwards. Changes in the quoted spread largely respond to higher trading volume and changes in implied volatility. The effective spread increases on the event day and on the first two days following the earnings announcement.     

Good volatility,bad volatility,and the cross section of cryptocurrency returns

This paper examines the predictability of realized volatility measures (RVM), especially the realized signed jumps (RSJ), on future volatility and returns. We confirm the existence of volatility persistence and future volatility is more strongly related to the volatility of past positive returns than to that of negative returns in the cryptocurrency market. RSJ-sorted cryptocurrency portfolios yield statistically and economically significant differences in the subsequent portfolio returns. After controlling for cryptocurrency market characteristics and existing risk factors, the differences remain significant. The investor attention explains the predictability of realized jump risk in future cryptocurrency returns.     

Generic pricing of FX,inflation and stock options under stochastic interest rates and stochastic volatility

We consider the pricing of FX, inflation and stock options under stochastic interest rates and stochastic volatility, for which we use a generic multi-currency framework. We allow for a general correlation structure between the drivers of the volatility, the inflation index, the domestic (nominal) and the foreign (real) rates. Having the flexibility to correlate the underlying FX/inflation/stock index with both stochastic volatility and stochastic interest rates yields a realistic model that is of practical importance for the pricing and hedging of options with a long-term exposure. We derive explicit valuation formulas for various securities, such as vanilla call/put options, forward starting options, inflation-indexed swaps and inflation caps/floors. These vanilla derivatives can be valued in closed form under Schöbel and Zhu [Eur. Finance Rev., 1999, 4, 23–46] stochastic volatility, whereas we devise an (Monte Carlo) approximation in the form of a very effective control variate for the general Heston [Rev. Financial Stud., 1993, 6, 327–343] model. Finally, we investigate the quality of this approximation numerically and consider a calibration example to FX and inflation market data.     

The relationship between implied and realized volatility: evidence from the Australian stock index option market

This paper examines the relationship between the volatility implied in option prices and the subsequently realized volatility by using the S&P/ASX 200 index options (XJO) traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) during a period of 5 years. Unlike stock index options such as the S&P 100 index options in the US market, the S&P/ASX 200 index options are traded infrequently and in low volumes, and have a long maturity cycle. Thus an errors-in-variables problem for measurement of implied volatility is more likely to exist. After accounting for this problem by instrumental variable method, it is found that both call and put implied volatilities are superior to historical volatility in forecasting future realized volatility. Moreover, implied call volatility is nearly an unbiased forecast of future volatility.

The link between the current international monetary non-system,financialization and the Washington consensus

The main purpose of the present work is to build a bridge between three concepts: the current international monetary system, financialization and the Washington consensus. Under this approach, the current international monetary non-system (that replaced the Bretton Woods system) imposed by Nixon in 1971 led to the oil shocks that in turn intensified the inflationary pressures of the rest of the decade. The bold resolution to end inflation in 1979 via high interest rates brought about a process of financialization that was cause and consequence of trade and financial liberalization. Interest rates eventually went back to levels comparable to those prevailing before the Volcker shock, which brought about a decline in firms’ demand for credit that obliged banks to seek for other clients, i.e. the rest of the world and households. The ideas embedded in the Washington consensus contributed to the development of this financialization/liberalization process, and these gained strength as the previous regime (characterized by low unemployment rates and high inflation) was being replaced by the current regime paradoxically called the ‘Great Moderation’. The process of financialization can be explained by the analysis of the capital structure of U.S. firms.     

Causality in volatility and volatility spillover effects between US, Japan and four equity markets in the South China Growth Triangular

In examining co-movement across international stock markets, previous researchers usually pre-determine the direction of causation and neglect the Chinese equity markets. In this study, we examine the spillover effects of volatility among the two developed markets and four emerging markets in the South China Growth Triangular using Chueng and Ng's causality-in-variance test. Several findings deserve mention: (1) the Japanese stock market affects the US stock market and there is a feedback relationship between the Hong Kong and US stock market. (2) Markets of the SCGT are contemporaneously correlated with the return volatility of the US market. (3) Econometric models constructed according to the results of variance-in-causality tests have greater explanatory power than the conventional GARCH(1,1) model. (4) Using the return volatility of foreign exchange as a proxy for informational arrival can explain excess kurtosis of a stock return series, especially for the less open emerging market. (5) Geographic proximity and economic ties do not necessarily lead to a strong relationship in volatility across markets.     

Information and volatility links in the foreign exchange market

We apply the trading model of Fleming et al (1998 ). to a number of currency markets. The model posits that two markets can have common volatility structures as a result of receiving common information and from cross‐hedging activity where a position in one currency is used to hedge risk in a position taken in another. Our results imply that the model is effective in identifying common information flows and volatility spillovers in the currency markets and that some of these effects are lost when simply examining raw correlations. A series of specification tests of the 21 bivariate systems that are examined provides support for the trading model in the foreign exchange context.     

Financial integration, information and communication technology, and macroeconomic volatility: Evidence from ten Asian economies

This paper aims to examine the impact of financial integration and information and communication technology (ICT) development on output volatility. It applies a two-country dynamic general equilibrium model, in which ICT is assumed to increase the volume and speed of capital flows. This model predicts that economies with a high ICT development or/and a high degree of financial integration exhibit greater output fluctuations in the face of monetary policy shocks, but lower output fluctuations in the face of fiscal policy shocks. The empirical findings estimated by using the panel vector autoregression approach and impulse response analysis support these predictions.     

Volume,volatility and information linkages in the stock and option markets

This paper examines the relationship between option trading activity and stock market volatility. Although the option market is uniquely suited for trading on volatility information, there is little analysis on how trading activity in this market is linked to stock price volatility. The bulk of the discussion tends to focus on whether trading activity in the stock market is informative about stock volatility. To analyze the information in option trading activity for stock market volatility, a sample of 15 stocks with the highest option trading volume is selected. For each stock, it is noted that the trading activities in the put and call option markets have significant explanatory power for stock market volatility. In addition, the results indicate that the call option trading activity has a stronger impact on stock volatility compared with that of the put options. Our results demonstrate that information and sentiment in the option market is useful for the estimation of stock market volatility. Also, the significance of the effects of option trading activity on stock price volatility is observed to be comparable to that of stock market trading activity. Furthermore, the persistence and asymmetric effects in the volatility of some stocks tend to disappear once option trading activity is taken into account.     

Assessing the link between price and financial stability

This paper aims at investigating first, the (possibly time-varying) empirical relationship between price and financial stability, and second, the effects of some macro and policy variables on this relationship in the United States and the Eurozone. Three empirical methods are used to examine the relevance of A.J. Schwartz's “conventional wisdom” that price stability would yield financial stability. Using simple correlations and VAR and Dynamic Conditional Correlations, we reject the hypotheses that price stability is positively correlated with financial stability and that the correlation is stable over time. The latter result and the analysis of the determinants of the link between price stability and financial stability cast some doubt on the appropriateness of the “leaning against the wind” monetary policy approach.     

Terrorism,country attributes,and the volatility of stock returns

This study investigates the interplay between terrorism and finance, focusing on the stock return volatility of American firms targeted by terrorist attacks. We find terrorism risk is an important factor in explaining the volatility of stock returns, which should be taken into account when modelling volatility. Using a volatility event-study approach and a new bootstrapping technique, we find volatility increases on the day of the attack and remain significant for at least fifteen days following the day of the attack. Cross-sectional analysis of the abnormal volatility indicates that the impact of terrorist attacks differs according to the country characteristics in which the incident occurred. We find that firms operating in wealthier, or more democratic countries, face greater volatility in stock returns relative to firms operating in developing countries. Firm exposure varies with the nature of country location, with country wealth and level of democracy playing an important role in explaining the likelihood of a terrorist attack. Our results show that despite significant terrorist events this past decade, stock markets in developed countries have not taken terrorist risk into sufficient consideration.     

The impact of institutional investors on mergers and acquisitions in the United Kingdom

In this paper we investigate the impact of institutional ownership on UK mergers and acquisitions. We employ a comprehensive sample of M&As conducted by UK acquirers from 2000 to 2010, thus including a full cycle of peak and trough in M&A waves. We find that institutional investors increase the likelihood of an M&A to be a large, cross-border deal, opting for full control. Moreover, institutional ownership concentration and foreign institutional ownership increase the likelihood of cross-border M&As. In addition, we assess the influence of institutional shareholders’ investment horizon and find that while investment horizon have a negative influence in encouraging cross-border M&As, the presence of long-term investors encourages larger M&As. Finally, even after controlling for the 2007–08 financial crisis the market reacts negatively to the announcement of cross-border M&As.     

Exchange-rate volatility and industry trade between the U.S. and Malaysia

Previous research that investigated the impact of exchange rate volatility on the trade flows of Malaysia concentrated only on the aggregate exports of Malaysia to the rest of the world. In this paper we first concentrate on the trade flows between Malaysia and the U.S. After showing that exchange rate volatility has neither short-run nor long-run effect on the trade flows between the two countries, we disaggregate the trade data by industry and consider the experience of 101 U.S. exporting industries to Malaysia and 17 U.S. importing industries from Malaysia. While exchange rate volatility seems to have significant short-run effects on the trade flows of most industries, short-run effects translate into the long run only in a limited number of small industries.