Efficient Hedging and Pricing of Equity-Linked Life Insurance Contracts on Several Risky Assets Staff Working Paper 2006-43 Alexander Melnikov, Yuliya Romanyuk The authors use the efficient hedging methodology for optimal pricing and hedging of equity-linked life insurance contracts whose payoff depends on the performance of several risky assets. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): D, D8, D81, G, G1, G10, G12
Conditioning Information and Variance Bounds on Pricing Kernels with Higher-Order Moments: Theory and Evidence Staff Working Paper 2006-38 Fousseni Chabi-Yo The author develops a strategy for utilizing higher moments and conditioning information efficiently, and hence improves on the variance bounds computed by Hansen and Jagannathan (1991, the HJ bound) and Gallant, Hansen, and Tauchen (1990, the GHT bound). Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C6, C61, G, G1, G12, G13
Can Affine Term Structure Models Help Us Predict Exchange Rates? Staff Working Paper 2006-27 Antonio Diez de los Rios The author proposes an arbitrage-free model of the joint behaviour of interest and exchange rates whose exchange rate forecasts outperform those produced by a random-walk model, a vector autoregression on the forward premiums and the rate of depreciation, and the standard forward premium regression. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Exchange rates, Interest rates JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, F, F3, F31, G, G1, G12, G15
Benchmark Index of Risk Appetite Staff Working Paper 2006-16 Miroslav Misina Changes in investors' risk appetite have been used to explain a variety of phenomena in asset markets. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G12
Risk Perceptions and Attitudes Staff Working Paper 2005-17 Miroslav Misina Changes in risk perception have been used in various contexts to explain shorter-term developments in financial markets, as part of a mechanism that amplifies fluctuations in financial markets, as well as in accounts of "irrational exuberance." Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Financial markets JEL Code(s): D, D8, D81, D84, G, G1, G12
State Dependence in Fundamentals and Preferences Explains Risk-Aversion Puzzle Staff Working Paper 2005-9 Fousseni Chabi-Yo, René Garcia, Eric Renault The authors examine the ability of economic models with regime shifts to rationalize and explain the risk-aversion and pricing-kernel puzzles put forward in Jackwerth (2000). Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): G, G1, G12, G13
The Stochastic Discount Factor: Extending the Volatility Bound and a New Approach to Portfolio Selection with Higher-Order Moments Staff Working Paper 2005-2 Fousseni Chabi-Yo, René Garcia, Eric Renault The authors extend the well-known Hansen and Jagannathan (HJ) volatility bound. HJ characterize the lower bound on the volatility of any admissible stochastic discount factor (SDF) that prices correctly a set of primitive asset returns. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C6, C61, G, G1, G11, G12
The Monetary Origins of Asymmetric Information in International Equity Markets Staff Working Paper 2004-47 Gregory Bauer, Clara Vega Existing studies using low-frequency data show that macroeconomic shocks contribute little to international stock market covariation. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, International topics, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): F, F3, F30, G, G1, G12, G14, G15
Modelling the Evolution of Credit Spreads in the United States Staff Working Paper 2004-45 Stuart Turnbull, Jun Yang The authors use Jarrow and Turnbull's (1995) reduced-form methodology to model the evolution of the term structure of interest rates in the United States for different credit classes and different industries. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): G, G1, G12, G13
International Equity Flows and Returns: A Quantitative Equilibrium Approach Staff Working Paper 2004-42 Rui Albuquerque, Martin Schneider, Gregory Bauer The authors model trading by foreign and domestic investors in developed-country equity markets. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, International topics, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): F, F3, F30, G, G1, G12, G14, G15