UNIFICATION OF CHINA'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

This paper studies China's foreign exchange market before and after the 1994 unification of the official and swap exchange rates. Examining segmentation as well as linkages among the foreign exchange adjustment centers (FEACs) reveals that the linkages were not strong enough to eliminate or narrow price differentials among FEACs. Hence, improving the foreign exchange market's efficiency requires a reform to unify the swap rates. This paper discusses the unification's implications for inflation, monetary policy, and current account convertibility.     

Can price limits help when the price is falling? Evidence from transactions data on the Shanghai Stock Exchange

We use transactions data to explore the magnet effects of price limit rules on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SHSE). When limit hits are imminent, stock prices are found to approach the price limits at faster rates, with higher trading intensity and larger price variation, supporting the magnet effect hypothesis of Subrahmanyam [Subrahmanyam, A., 1994. Circuit breakers and market volatility: A theoretical perspective. Journal of Finance, 49, 237–254.]. Moreover, when stock prices approach the floor limits, we observe lower than normal market conditions’ trading volume and trade size but a wider spread. The panic selling psychology of individual investors for fear of illiquidity and the strategic trading decisions of discretionary traders during periods prior to price limit hits at the floors are conjectured as possible explanations for the observed price behaviors. Post-limit-hit analysis reveals evidence of delayed price discovery at the ceiling limit but price reversal at the floor.     

BLACK MARKET EXCHANGE RATES AND CAPITAL MOBILITY IN ASIAN ECONOMIES

This paper examines whether foreign exchange black markets have eroded the effectiveness of capital controls and contributed to an increase in the effective degree of capital mobility in a sample of Asian countries. Comparing the uncovered interest parity forecast errors between the official and black market exchange rates suggests that in those countries with more stringent capital controls, foreign exchange black markets have reached a maturity level to threaten the effectiveness of those controls.