The International Transmission of Arbitrage Information Across Futures Markets

Abstract:   This paper examines whether deviations from a domestic spot‐futures relation, as identified through mispricing series in stock index futures, spillover international boundaries. Such spillovers suggest that information from a mispricing series in one market conveys a signal of similar mispricing in another market. In the presence of arbitrage traders and in the absence of market frictions, mispricing series should be independent across international boundaries. The study employs a VAR analysis of stock index futures mispricing across three large futures markets – Australia, the UK and the USA. Using time zone differences, tests are conducted for the daily transmission of arbitrage information. The results reveal the relationship between mispricing series is bi‐directional. Based on this finding, a trading strategy is employed to examine the economic significance of apparent profits. The results show that some profits are possible after transaction costs but that a long horizon, probably beyond the scope of most traders, is required to exploit the spillover information.     

沪深300股指期货定价误差及影响因素分析

文章运用持有成本模型、无套利定价原理以及回归分析,分别对日交易数据、日内5分钟数据对我国沪深300股指期货的定价误差及影响定价误差幅度的因素进行了实证研究,研究表明我国沪深300股指期货的价格在大多数时间是偏高的,在考虑套利成本的情况下,股指期货的定价在大多数时间是有效率的,但是在股票市场大幅波动的时段,股指期货的定价在存在较大幅度的定价误差。从影响股指期货定价误差幅度的因素来看,距到期日越远定价误差越大,现货指数波动越剧烈定价误差越大,股指期货持仓量对定价误差没有显著影响,加息对定价误差的影响跟加息日期有关。     

The Information Signaling Hypothesis of Dividends: Evidence from Cointegration and Causality Tests

This paper uses cointegration and causality tests to study the temporal behavior of dividends and earnings at the individual firm level. We find that, for a sample of 143 non‐utility firms, approximately one‐fifth of the firms exhibits a temporal relationship between dividends and earnings that is consistent with the information signaling hypothesis of dividends. In the case of 72 utilities, about a third exhibit dividend policies that are consistent with the signaling notion of dividends. Further examination of firm characteristic differences between signaling and non‐signaling firms shows that, in the case of non‐utility firms, signaling firms tend to be smaller, have a lower growth rate of total assets, and have a higher leverage ratio. In the case of utilities, we find no major differences in firm characteristics between signaling and non‐signaling firms.     

Dynamics of Private and Public Real Estate Markets

Using five assets (T-bills, bonds, stocks, and both public and private real estate), this study investigates how cointegration of capital markets affects the dynamics of public and private real estate markets. The results show that the price indices of the five assets are nonstationary and cointegrated. Some implications for the long-term equilibrium relationship for portfolio diversification, price discovery and prediction are discussed. In a Granger causality framework, error-correction augmented VAR models (VECM) and unrestricted VAR models are compared with respect to the conclusion regarding the interaction between public and private real estate returns. VECM is also shown to improve the prediction of private real estate returns relative to an unrestricted VAR model. These results raise questions about previous research studies regarding the dynamics between public and private real estate returns. It is shown that the long-term equilibrium relationship establishes a feedback between the two real estate markets, but the private market seems to informationally lead the public one. Possible explanations are also explored.     

存在市场摩擦条件下股指期货定价模型及其应用——以沪深300股指期货为例

依据无套利原理,考察存在市场摩擦条件下股指期货定价模型,并将其应用于我国股指期货市场,构建沪深300股指期货套利模型。该套利模型考虑了现实中存在的交易成本、借贷利差等市场摩擦因素对套利机会的影响,从而在实务中具有一定的参考价值。     

Benchmark Status in Fixed-Income Asset Markets

Abstract:  What is a benchmark bond? We provide a formal theoretical treatment of this concept that relates endogenously determined benchmark status to price discovery, and we derive its implications. We describe an econometric technique for identifying the benchmark that is congruent with our theoretical framework. We apply this to the US corporate bond market and to the natural experiment that occurred when benchmark status was contested in the European sovereign bond markets. We show that France provides the benchmark at most maturities in the Euro-denominated sovereign bond market and that IBM provides the benchmark in the US corporate bond market.     

汇率制度改革后中国股市与汇市关系——人民币名义汇率与上证综合指数的实证研究

本文利用协整检验和Granger因果检验的计量方法研究了汇率制度改革后中国股市与汇市的关系。实证结果表明,汇率制度改革后中国股市与汇市存在长期稳定的协整关系,人民币升值是中国股市上扬的单向Granger原因。最后,本文利用国际收支和资本流动理论对这些实证结果作了进一步解释,并提出了相应的政策建议。     

Measuring Pricing Inefficiencies Under Stressful Market Conditions

This study examines the mispricing and time between arbitrage trades of the Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures and index options contracts under various stressed market conditions. Ex‐ante trading profits and differences in time between trades across up and down as well as stressed and non‐stressed markets are used to measure how well the derivative markets perform under emotional distress. We find evidence of illiquidity in stressed and down markets. In stressful markets and down markets, liquidity suppliers are less likely to trade against the informed traders. This, in turn, leads to longer time between trades and higher arbitrage profits.     

Who drives whom ‐ sukuk or bond? A new evidence from granger causality and wavelet approach

Sukuk is a highly appealing alternative instrument of conventional bond in the financial market over the last two decades. To a certain extent, the market players assume sukuk as the same as bond. However, sukuk has its own fundamental asset backed principles, whereas bond is backed by debt. The objective of the study is to examine the Granger‐causality and lead–lag relationship between sukuk and bond by using the data of the Malaysian Government securities return for both conventional and Islamic instruments. The data for every working day of 7 years covering the period from January 31, 2007 to December 31, 2013 were collected from Bloomberg database. The yield returns of both securities have been plotted for each six months of a year. This study applied both Granger‐causality and dynamic co‐movement techniques such as, continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) coherence for analyzing the temporal evolution of the frequency content of both securities by decomposing each period into different time scales. The empirical findings of the paper reveal that with a bit of exception, there is a causal relationship between sukuk securities and conventional bonds for a given period of time. For robustness, this study applied the wavelet coherence approach and found that bond is led by sukuk in the long term investment horizon rather than in the short term. Our findings relating to the lead‐lag relationship between sukuk and bonds have important implications in terms of policy regulations and investment management. Future research and market practices could reinvestigate the differences between these two securities across different markets and types.     

Price Discovery,Causality and Forecasting in the Freight Futures Market

This paper investigates the causal relationship between futures and spot prices in the freight futures market. Being a thinly traded market whose underlying asset is a service, sets it apart from other markets investigated so far in the literature. Causality tests, generalised impulse response analysis and forecasting performance evaluation indicate that futures prices tend to discover new information more rapidly than spot prices. Revisions in the composition of the underlying index to make it more homogeneous, have strengthened the price discovery role of futures prices. The information incorporated in futures prices, when formulated as a VECM, produces more accurate forecasts of spot prices than the VAR, ARIMA and random-walk models, over several steps ahead. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

中国收入差距与经济增长的关系分析

本文基于中国1987-2010年的相关时间序列数据,采用Engle-Granger两步协整（Cointegration）检验和Granger因果关系检验等计量经济学方法研究经济增长对城乡居民收入差距的影响。研究发现,城乡收入差距与经济增长之间存在着长期稳定的均衡关系,经济增长会引起城乡收入差距的单向变动。     

我国农村金融发展与农业保险的相关性分析

本文采集1985-2008年我国农村GDP、农村贷款、农村存款、农业保险保费收入的数据,检验了我国农村金融发展与农业保险之间的关系。结果表明农村金融发展与农业保险的发展存在长期协整关系,我国农业保险发展是农村金融发展的动力之一,但农村金融发展对农业保险的促进作用不明显。为此,提出加快农村金融发展、优化现行财政支持模式、增加财政支持项目等发展农业保险的政策建议。     

价格传导关系变化的实证检验

利用变结构协整分析价格指数间从1996年10月～2010年7月的长期均衡关系,并对变结构前后价格传导路径的统计显著性做Granger因果检验结果显示,近年来上下游价格传导的统计显著性有较大提高,需求因素在价格传导中的作用突出,但是生产资料价格向下游传导存在校长的滞后期.最后利用变参数模型的状态空间表示,动态考察价格指数序列间的相互作用,发现各传导路径作用强度的变化并不一致.