Information Flows Between the U.S. and China Commodity Futures Trading

Using a bivariate GARCH model, we examine patterns of information flows for three commodity futures traded in both the developed U.S. market and the emerging China market (copper, soybeans and wheat). For copper and soybeans, the two commodities that are subject to less government regulation and fewer import restrictions in China, we find that the U.S. futures market plays a dominant role in transmitting information to the Chinese market, a result that confirms the importance of the U.S. role as a leader in the global financial market. For the heavily regulated and subsidized wheat commodity, our empirical results indicate that the U.S.-China futures markets are highly segmented in pricing, although information transmission via volatility spillover across markets is present.     

Chinese firms’ crash risk and CEO media exposure

This study uses panel data from China over the period 2008–2015 to examine the effect of CEO media exposure on crash risk. We show that CEO media coverage in Chinese firms has a wide dispersion and mitigates crash risk at firms. Our study confirms the important role of media to monitor effectively firm behaviours in China.     

The Use of Forward Contracts for Hedging Currency Risk

This paper derives an optimal rule for hedging currency risk in a general utility framework. Ex ante hedging performance of the forward markets is examined using the optimal hedge ratio derived from the utility model and an optimal rule derived from another model (excess return per unit risk) suggested in the hedging literature. Results of this study indicate a naive (one-to-one) hedge performs similarly to the optimal hedge ratios under either model. An implication of this study is that financial managers of multinational firms should simply follow a one-to-one rule when hedging foreign exchange risk in the forward markets.     

A cointegration analysis of the Asian dollar and Eurodollar interest rate transmission mechanism

The transmission mechanism between the Asian dollar and Eurodollar markets is investigated for the period 1981–1989 using a cointegration analysis and error correction model. Results indicate the absence of reverse causality in the Asian dollar market throughout the 1980s. In the Eurodollar market, reverse causality exists in the first half, but disappears in the second half of the decade. Both markets are evolving into rapid incorporation of prior interest rate information into current rates. These results are likely to be due to reduced market regulation, expansion of futures trading, more sophisticated telecommunications and 24-hour trading practices.The authors wish to thank Zoltan Acs and Elizabeth Cooperman for helpful comments and suggestions. Invaluable assistance in data collection and entry was provided by Brett Salazar. Any errors remain our own.     

Chinese Offshore RMB Currency and Bond Markets： The Role of Hong Kong

This paper discusses the role of Hong Kong in China’s grand scheme to build up the RMB as a global reserve currency.We highlight the economic importance of Hong Kong to China in terms of channeling foreign direct investment into China,some of which,in the future,will be denominated in the RMB.We discuss the development of China’s RMB currency swap and deposit markets in Hong Kong.These offshore markets enable the RMB to trade freely, setting the stage for the RMB to become fully convertible and allowing market forces to play a role in pricing the value of the RMB,and help in the development of the RMB-denominated bond(or dim sum bond)market in Hong Kong.Finally,we present evidence of the phenomenal growth of the dim sum bond market in Hong Kong,which can further enhance and strengthen the use of the RMB outside China.     

Growth Enterprise Board Initial Public Offerings： Characteristics,Volatility and the Initial-day Performance

We use the Chinese initial public offering data from October 2009 to August 2010 to examine the newly‐established growth enterprise board (GEB). The results indicate that the GEB has been successful and is providing a viable channel for new small and medium‐sized firms to raise external capital. Four variables, the volatility variable, the turnover ratio, the winning lottery ratio and the price–earnings ratio, are important factors driving the initial‐day returns in the regression analysis. The implementation of the new trading‐halts policy on the GEB is found to be effective in mitigating excessive speculation. Our analysis results could be used by policy‐makers to gauge the effects of policy changes on the underpricing of the initial public offerings of the GEB.     

Good deeds earn chits? Evidence from philanthropic family controlled firms

This study examines whether charitable family controlled firms have lower default risk. Using Taiwan data that provide clear information about firms’ benevolent intention and avoid endogeneity issue of risk and charitable activities, we show that charitable family controlled firms have lower default risk, which is proxied by value-at-risk and expected shortfall measures. Our finding shows that charitable activities bring benefits of lower risk to shareholders. This study also provides various channels that can lower default risk for the charitable firms. That is, these firms appear to have higher credit ratings, engage less in earnings management, and have higher worker productivity. This study argues that the benevolent mindset of decision makers at firms help lower default risk.