Incomplete Markets and Security Prices: Do Asset-Pricing Puzzles Result from Aggregation Problems?

This paper investigates Euler equations involving security prices and household-level consumption data. It provides a useful complement to many existing studies of consumption-based asset pricing models that use a representative-agent framework, because the Euler equations under investigation hold even if markets are incomplete. It also provides a useful complement to simulation-based studies of market incompleteness. The empirical evidence indicates that the theory is rejected by the data along several dimensions. The results therefore indicate that some well-documented asset-pricing puzzles do not result from aggregation problems for the preferences under investigation.     

A dismal science; An essay on new classical economics

Summary Does new classical economics constitute a scientific achievement? Are its basic concepts demonstrably appropriate representations of fundamental characteristics of economic reality? An inspection of the relevant models shows that this is not the case. There exists hardly any empirical evidence which can be interpreted as foundational for the concepts employed in new classical microeconomics. It is more accurate to view the latter as mathematically convenient constructions which yield desired results - which often means: results that seem to be relevant for policy making. Finally, the new classical approach to macroeconomics appears to originate in substantial confusions about the nature of this subject.I am grateful to Pieter Stobbe for long and frequent discussions about economic theory which have helped to shape the views I put forward in this article. I should also like to thank Jan Marc Berk who provided research assistance. I alone am responsible for what follows.     

Is the EU ETS a Just Climate Policy?

The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is in dire straits. Prone to design problems and suffering from the effects of the economic crises the scheme is criticised for its poor achievements. In this paper we will analyse some of the features of this situation from an ethical perspective. The major part is dedicated to the complications within each phase of the EU ETS and to the recent developments it has undergone. We will briefly discuss the remedies suggested by prominent commentators. Furthermore, any policy tool to tackle climate change should be evaluated in view of the profound equity issues that are inherent to the climate problem. We will evaluate the EU ETS according to two justice-based criteria, related to effectiveness and the distribution of the duties involved in climate change, respectively. We will conclude that the EU ETS, in its current form, clearly lacks fairness on both criteria. However, the biggest problem is the unwillingness of EU leaders to mend, what could be, a commendable climate policy tool. To that extent, we argue, those leaders are acting unjustly.     

Diversification revisited

Many investment companies hold diversified asset portfolios and frequently try to mirror or outperform a market index for each asset class such as stocks and bonds. As Wibaut and Wilford (2009) show, often the same issuers appear in each of those indices and this may lead to undesirable results such as during a crisis period. Our research further explores the topic of diversification with a special focus on the financial crisis period of 2007 through 2009. Our results indicate that there is benefit in terms of correlations from holding bond and stock portfolios. Interestingly, these findings show the benefit is most pronounced during times of market stress.     

Wealth Affirming Policies for Women of Color

There are a range of solutions that address asset building challenges for low-wealth women. Here we highlight some solutions that focus on basic needs (child care, child support) and creating economic stability with disposable income (income available after basic needs are met); solutions that address predatory lending and the housing crisis; and solutions that focus on joint ownership of assets and community-based asset building.     

Urban Mega-Events,Evictions and Housing Rights: The Canadian Case

This article examines how community-based groups have dealt with the potential housing impacts of urban mega-events (also known as 'hallmark events') in the city. Three Canadian case studies are used- Expo '86 in Vancouver, the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, and the rejected proposal for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Toronto- to discuss a range of issues including the nature and impact of community action in forcing the organisers of mega-events to address the potential of event-related housing impacts. The research findings suggest that mega-eventrelated forced evictions should be viewed as an expected result of this form of urban restructuring as these events are used to bring new people, new facilities, and new money to cities ata rapid pace,and this goalis rarely evaluated in an open democratic manner. Further, the critical prerequisite for any effective community action to occur is the presence of an organised, strategic and resourceful coalition of community-based groups which have the capacity to analyse complex situations, act forcefully at a variety of levels, and use diverse strategies in order to take advantage of key 'openings' when seeking to achieve their goals.     

Robust estimation of intraweek periodicity in volatility and jump detection

Opening, lunch and closing of financial markets induce a periodic component in the volatility of high-frequency returns. We show that price jumps cause a large bias in the classical periodicity estimators and propose robust alternatives. We find that accounting for periodicity greatly improves the accuracy of intraday jump detection methods. It increases the power to detect the relatively small jumps occurring at times for which volatility is periodically low and reduces the number of spurious jump detections at times of periodically high volatility. We use the series of detected jumps to estimate robustly the long memory parameter of the squared EUR/USD, GBP/USD and YEN/USD returns.     

Trade expansion with the less developed countries and employment: A case study of belgium

Zusammenfassung Handelsausweitung mit Entwicklungsl?ndern und Besch?ftigung. Eine Fallstudie für Belgien. — Die Hauptergebnisse dieser Studie k?nnen wie folgt zusammengefa\t werden: Eine ausgeglichene Ausweitung des belgischen Handels mit Entwicklungsl?ndern hat für die Gesamtnachfrage nach Arbeit in der belgischen Volkswirtschaft einen schwachen negativen Effekt. Dieser schwache Gesamteffekt verbirgt indessen bedeutende Verschiebungen in der sektoralen Nachfrage nach Arbeitskr?ften. Das bedeutet, da\ eine ausgeglichene Ausweitung des Handels mit Entwicklungsl?ndern ein hinreichendes Ma\ an sektoraler Faktormobilit?t verlangt, wenn l?ngerfristige Arbeitslosigkeit vermieden werden soll. Au\erdem ist angesichts der bedeutenden Unterschiede zwischen dem Faktorgehalt von Importen aus Entwicklungsl?ndern und von belgischen Exporten in die Entwicklungsl?nder bei einer Handelsausweitung mit Entwicklungsl?ndern eine erhebliche ?nderung der relativen Faktorpreise erforderlich, wenn Vollbesch?ftigung erhalten bleiben soll. Es ist wichtig, auf die Grenzen der vorliegenden Studie hinzuweisen. Erstens dürfte eine Ausweitung des Handels mit Entwicklungsl?ndern Auswirkungen auf die Technologie haben. Diese Wirkungen konnten, da wir fixe technische Koeffizienten benutzten, nicht erfa\t werden. Zweitens wurde angenommen, da\ die Ausweitung des Handels mit Entwicklungsl?ndern in Form eines ausgeglichenen sektoralen Anstiegs der Exporte und Importe (auf der Basis der gegenw?rtigen Anteile des belgischen Handels mit Entwicklungsl?ndern) erfolgen würde. Es ist aber wahrscheinlich, da\ die Ausweitung des Handels auf wenige Sektoren konzentriert sein wird. Das k?nnte die sektoralen Besch?ftigungsprobleme versch?rfen. Drittens wurden die relativen Preiseffekte eines verst?rkten Handels mit Entwicklungsl?ndern vernachl?ssigt. Insbesondere wurden die Wirkungen dieser relativen Preise auf die Konsumstruktur nicht berücksichtigt.

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Résumé L’expansion de commerce extérieur avec les pays moins developpés et l’emploi. Une étude exemplaire de la Belgique. — Les résultats essentielles de cette étude peuvent être résumés de la manière suivante. Une expansion balancée du commerce extérieur belge avec les pays en voie de développement (PVD) à une petite influence négative sur la demande totale sur la main d’oeuvre dans l’économie belge. Cet effet petit aggrégé, cependant, cache des importants mouvements opposés concernant les demandes sectorielles sur la main d’oeuvre. Comme résultat, une expansion balancée du commerce extérieur avec les PVD rend nécessaire un degré suffisant de la mobilité de facteur sectorielle si un ch?mage prolongé devrait être évité. Additionellement, si on considère les différences importantes des contenus de facteur entre les importations des PVD et les exportations belges vers les PVD, une commerce augmenté avec les PVD rend nécessaire des changes significants des prix de facteur relatifs dans la Belgique si le plein emploi devrait être maintenu. Il est important de souligner les limitations de l’étude présente. Premièrement, une expansion de commerce avec les PVD a probablement des effets sur la technologie. Ces effects ne pouvaient pas être considérés à cause des coéfficients techniques fixes. Deuxièmement, nous avons supposé que l’expansion de commerce avec les PVD se passe par une augmentation sectorielle balancée des exportations et des importations en utilisant le rapport présent du commerce des PVD avec la Belgique. Il est cependant probable que l’expansion du commerce extérieur avec les PVD se concentra dans quelques secteurs. Cela pourrait puis aggraver les problèmes d’emploi sectoriel. Troisièmement, nous n’avons pas regardé les effets des prix relatifs du commerce augmenté avec les PVD. Particulièrement, nous n’avons pas considéré les effets de ces prix relatifs sur les structures de consommation.

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Resumen Expansión del comercio con palses en desarrollo y el empleo. Un estudio del caso de Bélgica. — Los principales resultados de este estudio pueden resumirse como sigue. Una expansión equilibrada del comercio belga con los países en desarrollo tiene un impacto negativo reducido sobre la demanda por trabajo en la economía belga. Este peque?o efecto agregativo, sin embargo, esconde importantes traslados opuestos en las demandas sectoriales por trabajo. Como resultado, una expansión balanceada del comercio con los países en desarrollo requière de un grado suficiente de movilidad sectorial de factores, si se quiere evitar un desempleo prolongado. Adicionalmente, dadas las importantes diferencias en el contenido de factores entre importaciones de paises en desarrollo y exportaciones belgas hacia ellos, un aumento del comercio con los paises en desarrollo requiere de cambios significativos en los precios relativos en Bélgica, si se quiere mantener el pleno empleo. Es importante subrayar las limitaciones del presente estudio. Primero, una expansión del comercio con los países en desarrollo probablemente tendrá efectos sobre la tecnología. Estos efectos no pudieron captarse, ya que se usaron coeficientes técnicos fijos. Segundo, se asumió que la expansión del comercio con los países en desarrollo iba a tener la forma de un crecimiento sectorial balanceado de exportaciones e importaciones usando la participación presente de los países en desarrollo en el comercio con Bélgica. Es probable, sin embargo, que la expansión del comercio con los paises en desarrollo se concentre sobre unos pocos sectores. Esto puede agravar entonces los problemas sectoriales de empleo. Tercero, los electos de precios relativos como consecuencia de la expansión del comercio con los países en desarrollo fueron desatendidos. En particular, no se tomaron en cuenta los efectos de estos precios relativos sobre los patrones de consumo.