THE EFFECT OF THE WPPSS CRISIS ON THE TAX-EXEMPT BOND MARKET

The 1983 default of the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) was the largest municipal default. Some writers contend that the default affected the entire municipal bond market. This study examines the effect of key WPPSS-related events on the general municipal market, tax-exempt public power district bonds, and WPPSS bonds, respectively. The results show that although certain events significantly affected all WPPSS bonds, these events did not affect the general municipal bond market or non-WPPSS public power bonds. The use of a standard event-time methodology with daily bond prices (as opposed to monthly yields) appears to provide a more powerful test of the effect of a municipal crisis on the tax-exempt bond market.     

“转融通”引来的资金活水：有效对接货币市场与证券市场

在过去,证券公司只是单纯地凭经纪业务取胜,靠天吃饭,而转融通业务的推出标志着—个全新的金融创新时代的到来。     

THE SENSITIVITY OF THE PRIME RATE TO MONEY MARKET CONDITIONS

Commercial banking's institutional setting can make one bank's profits dependent upon the pricing strategies of its rivals. In this environment, widely disseminated prime rate quotes, loan contracts with “most-favored-customer” clauses, and rule-of-thumb pricing techniques can result in prime rate outcomes that jointly maximize banks' market values. In this paper the relationship between the prime and money market rates is examined over the last decade to determine if the prime rate behaves more like a competitive money market rate than an oligopolistic price.     

THE EFFECT OF MARKET CONDITIONS AND RISK CLASSIFICATIONS ON MARKET MODEL PARAMETERS

This article reports the results of tests used to detect shifts in market model parameters during bull and bear market conditions. The evidence indicates that the parameters exhibit nonstationarity during market advances and market declines for certain predetermined stock groups. Specifically, the parameters of stocks in high-risk and low-risk classifications behave as if they are affected by the alternating forces of bull and bear markets.     

FURTHER EVIDENCE ON DIVIDEND YIELDS AND THE EX-DIVIDEND DAY STOCK PRICE EFFECT

Ex-dividend day stock price behavior supports a tax clientele effect. This effect is still found after the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Results reflect an effective tax advantage for capital gains taxes payable at realization, versus dividend taxes due quarterly. Evidence also supports short-term trader participation in the ex-day phenomenon when the difference between dividend income and the ex-dividend-day price decrease exceeds transactions costs to trade. Results contradict prior research where a tax clientele effect is not found, but align with this prior research when including a small number of contaminated observations.     

THE ASIAN CRISIS: LESSONS FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION

The succession of financial crises that swept through Asia, Russia, and Latin America in 1997 and 1998 has led to considerable debate about both the role of the IMF and possible actions to limit further crises. Some have argued that international financial markets do not function well and are subject to periodic contagious panics that can be stemmed by an international lender of last resort. This paper argues that the IMF has neither the resources nor the superior information to play such a role. However, there may be a need for an international financial institution that can use its leverage to secure policy changes in the affected countries.
The paper also takes issue with the view that the IMF is simply bailing out imprudent international banks and that measures are needed to bail them back in again. The source of the Asian crisis lay in the real economy, but the effect of the crisis was greatly exacerbated by the financial structure of the affected countries. In particular, much of the risk was borne by domestic banks that borrowed dollars in the short-term interbank market and made longerterm loans in the local currency. Public policy needs to be directed to ensuring that the risks in emerging markets are distributed efficiently across both foreign and domestic investors. That involves greater use of equity finance and structured debt, as well as possibly a more direct role for foreign banks in funding local activities.     

我国金融市场组织结构的收益风险效应分析

我国金融市场组织结构的基本特征是寡头垄断和国有垄断。这一特征使微观金融主体的信用行为得到国家信用的支持 ,其结果是微观金融风险向国有金融主体集中。在微观信用与国家信用置换的情况下 ,微观金融风险被制度性预期所固化 ,其结果就短期而言 ,为我国金融市场的稳定运行提供了条件 ,为金融体制改革的逐步深入赢得了时间 ;但就长期而言 ,微观金融风险最终表现为社会金融风险 ,国家将不得不为微观信用主体的风险累积买单。因此 ,在看到这一组织结构所带来巨大的运行成本的同时 ,应抓紧时间进行金融体制其他方面的改革 ,而渐次放开民营金融机构的市场准入自然成为本文引申出的结论。