The Risk Microstructure of Corporate Bonds: A Case Study from the German Corporate Bond Market

This article presents joint econometric analysis of interest rate risk, issuer‐specific risk (credit risk) and bond‐specific risk (liquidity risk) in a reduced‐form framework. We estimate issuer‐specific and bond‐specific risk from corporate bond data in the German market. We find that bond‐specific risk plays a crucial role in the pricing of corporate bonds. We observe substantial differences between different bonds with respect to the relative influence of issuer‐specific vs. bond‐specific spread on the level and the volatility of the total spread. Issuer‐specific risk exhibits strong autocorrelation and a strong impact of weekday effects, the level of the risk‐free term structure and the debt to value ratio. Moreover, we can observe some impact of the stock market volatility, the respective stock's return and the distance to default. For the bond‐specific risk we find strong autocorrelation, some impact of the stock market index, the stock market volatility, weekday effects and monthly effects as well as a very weak impact of the risk‐free term structure and the specific stock's return. Altogether, the determinants of the spread components vary strongly between different bonds/issuers.     

美国保险公司破产研究及对我国的启示

保险公司的破产会给保单持有人、股东以及保险保障基金等造成很大的损失。鉴于国内相关案例和数据的缺乏,本文主要参考美国的文献和数据,分析了1978年～2009年美国保险公司破产案例,研究发现虽然保险公司破产的触发事件主要是损失准备金不足、非充分定价、公司业务的快速增长、子公司破产和投资失败等,但导致保险公司破产的根本原因却...     

Corporate Hedging Policy and Equity Mispricing

We show that firms’ use of derivatives is negatively associated with stock mispricing. This result is consistent with the notion that hedging improves the transparency and predictability of firms’ cash flows resulting in less misvaluation. Furthermore, we show that the negative relationship between mispricing and hedging is particularly strong when market value is below fundamental value, which is consistent with prior evidence that hedging has a positive impact on firm valuation. Finally, we provide evidence that a “spread‐out” hedging policy that entails the use of a variety of derivative contracts can be more effective in reducing mispricing.     

Reconsidering the Relationship between Inflation and Relative Price Variability

It has long been popularly believed that the relationship between inflation and relative price variability (RPV) is positive and stable. Using disaggregated CPI data for the United States and Japan, however, this study finds that the relationship is neither linear nor stable over time. The overall relationship is approximately U‐shaped around a nonzero threshold inflation rate. RPV therefore changes not with the inflation rate per se, but with the deviation of inflation from the threshold inflation rate. More importantly, the relationship is by no means stable over time but instead varies significantly in a way that coincides with regime changes of inflation or monetary policy. The relationship was positive during the period of high inflation of the 1970s and the early 1980s, as has been documented by a number of previous studies, whereas it takes a U‐shape profile during the Great Moderation. The results are robust to the use of core inflation, which excludes the traditionally volatile prices of food and energy. This paper then presents a modified version of the Calvo‐type sticky price model to describe the observed empirical regularities. Simulation experiments show that the modified Calvo model fits the data well, and that the underlying relationship hinges upon the degree of price rigidity, which is systematically related to inflation regime. For countries and periods with low inflation rates, the relationship takes a U‐shape as price adjustment is more sticky. In a high‐inflation environment, when price setting becomes more flexible, the U‐shaped profile vanishes.     

资产周期特性与保险公司资产配置策略

在竞争激烈的保险市场上,作为盈利的两大支柱之一,保险公司资产管理的能力日趋重要,而保险公司资产配置是保险资产管理的核心,其研究意义就显得尤为重要。本文首先给出保险资产配置的意义与总体原则,然后从保险资金的来源和特性入手,在详细分析了美国、中国不同经济周期和市场周期下大类资产风险收益特性的基础之上,给出保险公司资产负债管理和资产配置的战略决策建议。     

国家风险对我国出口贸易效应的实证分析

2008年金融危机导致全球贸易环境恶化,国家风险加大,我国出口贸易规模下降。本文运用回归模型,分析了金融危机前后中国的国别出口规模与其对应进口国的国家风险之间的相关性以及出口市场结构对相关性的影响。论文提出在国家风险评级相对下调的发达市场,中国要缓解出口的下滑,以及在收入水平较低的新兴市场,中国要扩大对其出口规模,及时识别、防范并化解国家风险具有重要意义。论文从出口信用保险的角度为我国化解国家风险、发展对外贸易提出了相关政策性建议。     

Gamma-Minimax Prediction for the Multinomial Distribution

Characterizations of gamma-minimax predictors for the linear combinations of the unknown parameter and the random variable having the multinomial distribution under arbitrary squared error loss are established in two situations – when the sample size is fixed and when the sample size is a realization of a random variable. It is always assumed that the available vague prior information about the unknown parameter can be described by a class of priors whose vector of first moments belongs to a suitable convex and compact set. Several known gamma-minimax and minimax results can be obtained from the characterizations derived in the present paper.     

Joint estimation of technical efficiency and production risk for multi-output banks under a panel data cost frontier model

This article generalizes production risk from a single output production function to a multiple output cost frontier, which is able to examine input-oriented technical efficiencies and production risk simultaneously in the context of a panel data. Furthermore, the joint confidence interval estimates for technical efficiencies are constructed by means of multiple comparisons with the best approach. Whether taking production risk into account or not offers quite dissimilar implications in terms of the average technical efficiency measure and the identification of multiple efficient banks achieving the optimal cost frontier. It is suggested that inferences drawn on the basis of the confidence intervals of technical efficiency provide much more fruitful and insightful information than the point estimation alone. Bank specific risk parameters are found to be highly and positively correlated with fixed-effect estimates, implying that the more risk-averse a bank is, the more technically efficient it will be.

Efficient learning via simulation: A marginalized resample-move approach

In state–space models, parameter learning is practically difficult and is still an open issue. This paper proposes an efficient simulation-based parameter learning method. First, the approach breaks up the interdependence of the hidden states and the static parameters by marginalizing out the states using a particle filter. Second, it applies a Bayesian resample-move approach to this marginalized system. The methodology is generic and needs little design effort. Different from batch estimation methods, it provides posterior quantities necessary for full sequential inference and recursive model monitoring. The algorithm is implemented both on simulated data in a linear Gaussian model for illustration and comparison and on real data in a Lévy jump stochastic volatility model and a structural credit risk model.     

Communications About Resilience Enhancing Activities By English Local Authorities

Abstract

The Civil Contingencies Act (2004 Civil Contingencies Act. 2004. Contingency Planning Regulations 2005, London: The Stationery Office. No. 2042 Statutory Instruments [Google Scholar]) in the United Kingdom introduced new responsibilities for public authorities regarding Business Continuity Management (BCM) and other emergency planning activities. Using content analysis techniques, this study examined thirty-four English county councils' websites to examine the extent to which this online medium communicated these new responsibilities to stakeholders. Using key-word-in-context (KWIC) and content clustering, this exploratory study found that local authorities' websites were far from generic in their web-based communications about their new Civil Contingencies Act responsibilities and BCM activities, and it reveals a number of differing website traits, motivations and orientations.