Financial markets

• Regime Switches in the Risk-Return Trade-Off

  Staff Working Paper 2013-51 Eric Ghysels, Pierre Guérin, Massimiliano Marcellino

  This paper deals with the estimation of the risk-return trade-off. We use a MIDAS model for the conditional variance and allow for possible switches in the risk-return relation through a Markov-switching specification.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G10, G12

• A Distributional Approach to Realized Volatility

  Staff Working Paper 2013-49 Selma Chaker, Nour Meddahi

  This paper proposes new measures of the integrated variance, measures which use high-frequency bid-ask spreads and quoted depths. The traditional approach assumes that the mid-quote is a good measure of frictionless price.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C1, C14, C5, C51, C58

• Volatility Forecasting when the Noise Variance Is Time-Varying

  Staff Working Paper 2013-48 Selma Chaker, Nour Meddahi

  This paper explores the volatility forecasting implications of a model in which the friction in high-frequency prices is related to the true underlying volatility. The contribution of this paper is to propose a framework under which the realized variance may improve volatility forecasting if the noise variance is related to the true return volatility.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C1, C14, C5, C51, C58

• CoMargin

  Staff Working Paper 2013-47 Jorge Cruz Lopez, Jeffrey H. Harris, Christophe Hurlin, Christophe Pérignon

  We present CoMargin, a new methodology to estimate collateral requirements for central counterparties (CCPs) in derivatives markets. CoMargin depends on both the tail risk of a given market participant and its interdependence with other participants.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial stability JEL Code(s): G, G1, G13
• November 14, 2013

  Fragmentation in Canadian Equity Markets

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2013 Corey Garriott, Anna Pomeranets, Joshua Slive, Thomas Thorn

  Changes in technology and regulation have resulted in an increasing number of trading venues in equity markets in Canada. New trading platforms have intensified price competition and have encouraged innovation, and they do not appear to have segmented trade. But the increasingly complex market structure has necessitated investments in expensive technology and has introduced new operational risks. Regulatory responses should be carefully adapted to retain the competition and innovation associated with this market fragmentation.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): G, G2, L, L1, L13, N, N2, N22

• Public/Private Transitions and Firm Financing

  Staff Working Paper 2013-36 Kim Huynh, Teodora Paligorova, Robert Petrunia

  A large body of empirical literature investigates differences in financing structures across firms. Private firms’ financing receives little attention due to the lack of data.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G3, G30, L, L1, L11

• Volatility and Liquidity Costs

  Staff Working Paper 2013-29 Selma Chaker

  Observed high-frequency prices are contaminated with liquidity costs or market microstructure noise. Using such data, we derive a new asset return variance estimator inspired by the market microstructure literature to explicitly model the noise and remove it from observed returns before estimating their variance.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C1, C14, C5, C51, C58, G, G2, G20

• Money Market Rates and Retail Interest Regulation in China: The Disconnect between Interbank and Retail Credit Conditions

  Staff Working Paper 2013-20 Nathan Porter, TengTeng Xu

  Interest rates in China are composed of a mix of both market-determined interest rates (interbank rates and bond yields), and regulated interest rates (retail lending and deposit rates), reflecting China’s gradual process of interest rate liberalization.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Development economics, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, E, E4, E43, E5, E52, E58

• Fire-Sale FDI or Business as Usual?

  Staff Working Paper 2013-17 Ron Alquist, Rahul Mukherjee, Linda Tesar

  Using a new data set, we examine the characteristics and dynamics of cross-border mergers and acquisitions during emerging-market financial crises, that is, so-called “fire-sale FDI.” Our findings shed fresh light on whether the transactions undertaken during crisis periods differ in fundamental ways from those undertaken during more tranquil periods.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, International financial markets, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F2, F21, G, G0, G01, G3, G34

• Multivariate Tests of Mean-Variance Efficiency and Spanning with a Large Number of Assets and Time-Varying Covariances

  Staff Working Paper 2013-16 Sermin Gungor, Richard Luger

  We develop a finite-sample procedure to test for mean-variance efficiency and spanning without imposing any parametric assumptions on the distribution of model disturbances.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Asset pricing, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C15, C3, C33, G, G1, G11, G12