Flight-to-quality and correlation between currency and stock returns

We document that capital flows in and out of emerging or developed markets are sensitive to global equity market conditions. Capital tends to move out of emerging into developed countries in global down markets, leading to depreciation (appreciation) of emerging (developed) currencies. This generates a positive (negative) correlation between currency and equity in emerging (developed) markets which is amplified by the magnitude of the capital movement. We also verify that hedging currency risks may undo the natural hedge and increase the total return volatility under negative correlation.     

A nesting framework for Markov-switching GARCH modelling with an application to the German stock market

In this paper, we establish a generalized two-regime Markov-switching GARCH model which enables us to specify complex (symmetric and asymmetric) GARCH equations that may differ considerably in their functional forms across the two Markov regimes. We show how previously proposed collapsing procedures for the Markov-switching GARCH model can be extended to estimate our general specification by means of classical maximum-likelihood methods. We estimate several variants of the generalized Markov-switching GARCH model using daily excess returns of the German stock market index DAX sampled during the last decade. Our empirical study has two major findings. First, our generalized model outperforms all nested specifications in terms of (a) statistical fit (when model selection is based on likelihood ratio tests) and (b) out-of-sample volatility forecasting performance. Second, we find significant Markov-switching structures in German stock market data, with substantially differing volatility equations across the regimes.     

How much do online consumers really value free product returns? Evidence from eBay

Consumer return rates have been steadily rising in recent years, resulting in growing costs for retailers who must manage the returns process and the disposition of returned products. This cost pressure is driven in part by extremely generous return policies, such as giving consumers a full refund upon return. Interestingly, this common retail practice of full refunds is inconsistent with the recommendations of many analytical models of returns, which nearly always show that a partial refund is optimal. Such inconsistencies between theory and practice might arise when the decision drivers included in the analytical models do not match the decision drivers in practice. It might also be the case that retailers are overly optimistic about the value that consumers assign to a full refund, and thus assume that the value of such a policy outweighs its costs. In this paper, we use data collected from eBay, where identical products are sold with different return policies, to investigate these open questions in the literature. We analyze both the return policy drivers from the retailer's perspective and the return policy value from the consumer's perspective. Our results suggest that the value of a full refund policy to consumers may not be as large as one might expect, and it also exhibits a large heterogeneity across buyers with different levels of online purchase experience. In addition, we provide empirical evidence for what has long been suspected by online retailers – that a non-refundable forward shipping charge quickly erodes any value that consumers assign to return policies. The generality of our results is limited by the fact that eBay differs from traditional retail contexts in many respects, including the fact that eBay buyers may not be representative of the general buyer population. However, our study of how eBay consumers value free returns provides new insights into an understudied area, and it can serve as a starting point for future studies of the value of return policies in other retail contexts.     

The Cross‐Section of Expected Stock Returns: What Have We Learnt from the Past Twenty‐Five Years of Research?

I review the recent literature on cross-sectional predictors of stock returns. Predictive variables used emanate from informal arguments, alternative tests of risk-return models, behavioural biases, and frictions. More than fifty variables have been used to predict returns. The overall picture, however, remains murky, because more needs to be done to consider the correlational structure amongst the variables, use a comprehensive set of controls, and discern whether the results survive simple variations in methodology .     

Comparing linear and nonlinear forecasts for stock returns

We compare the out-of-sample performance of monthly returns forecasts for two indices, namely the Dow Jones (DJ) and the Financial Times (FT) indices. A linear and a nonlinear artificial neural network (ANN) model are used to generate the out-of-sample competing forecasts for monthly returns. Stationary transformations of dividends and trading volume are considered as fundamental explanatory variables in the linear model and the input variables in the ANN model. The comparison of out-of-sample forecasts is done on the basis of forecast accuracy, using the Diebold and Mariano test [J. Bus. Econ. Stat. 13 (1995) 253.], and forecast encompassing, using the Clements and Hendry approach [J. Forecast. 5 (1998) 559.]. The results suggest that the out-of-sample ANN forecasts are significantly more accurate than linear forecasts of both indices. Furthermore, the ANN forecasts can explain the forecast errors of the linear model for both indices, while the linear model cannot explain the forecast errors of the ANN in either of the two indices. Overall, the results indicate that the inclusion of nonlinear terms in the relation between stock returns and fundamentals is important in out-of-sample forecasting. This conclusion is consistent with the view that the relation between stock returns and fundamentals is nonlinear.     

Wage and employment effects of a wage norm

Most transition countries used tax‐supported wage norms in the early 1990s, as a part of their market liberalization programmes. This article analyses how a firm‐level tax (or subsidy) on deviations from a pre‐set wage norm may promote employment by rotating the labour demand curve perceived by the workers’ union around the value of the norm. We derive the conditions under which it yields a positive employment effect. We test the effect of the norm on the wages on a sample of Polish firms in 1990 and 1991. The data support the role of the wage norm on the position of the perceived labour demand curve and the role of the tax rate on its slope.     

流动性过剩与股票价格重估

在固定汇率与资本管制框架下,剩余储蓄的持续增加必然导致流动性过剩,对股票市场而言,只有当实体经济持续的剩余储蓄增加引起流动性过剩时,才会推动股票市场估值中枢的剧烈抬升.对近期经济指标的分析表明,股票市场重估将会持续下去,而货币政策紧缩引起的投资下降会进一步扩大剩余储蓄,加快重估的进程.     

网络效应一定会导致技术锁定吗?

在网络产业中,往往存在替代技术之间的激烈竞争。传统的观点认为,由于网络效应的作用,技术之间的结果是一种技术成为了产业的主导标准,而该技术的用户则被锁定于该技术之中,从而无法导致最优的均衡结果。因此,政府有必要对技术竞争进行干预。然而,传统的观点忽略了技术赞助者的作用、用户之间自发的协调以及用户偏好的多样化等因素,这些因素在一定程度上能够解决网络效应导致的技术锁定问题。因此,政府不应该对网络产业中的技术竞争进行过多的干预,而是应该做好知识产权保护、提供更多的市场信息以及保障用户的自主选择权。     

中国对美日欧服务贸易总量及结构出口潜力测算——基于变截距面板数据的引力模型分析

基于应用广泛的变截距面板数据模型,实证了中国对29个经济体服务贸易出口的影响因素和总量潜力及结构潜力,结果显示:空间距离对我国服务贸易的出口影响不显著,国际金融危机之后的服务贸易出口总额急剧下降是对出口不足的持续,总量上出口贸易的潜力增加,结构潜力较为复杂;运输、旅游等传统服务出口抗击全球金融危机的能力较小,而保险等新兴的服务出口规避风险能力较强。因此,在挖掘出口潜力和防止出口持续过度时,有关部门和企业应针对不同行业、不同目的国的特点,采取不同的发展措施。     

企业碳交易的有效性——基于中国A股上市公司的实证研究

从上市公司的角度,分析了我国CDM项目交易的有效性,即将衡量碳交易有效性的标准设定为能够使企业股票产生价值溢价,实证检验了碳交易对我国A股上市公司股市表现的影响。检验结果显示,上市公司发布CDM项目注册公告当日,能给上市公司带来显著为正的异常收益率;对事件窗及事件发生后15个交易日的检验显示,公告没有使股市产生显著为正的累计异常收益率。对沪市和深市的对比检验表明,上市公司发布公告当日,两市的反应存在较大的差别。