How Important Is Liquidity Risk for Sovereign Bond Risk Premia? Evidence from the London Stock Exchange Staff Working Paper 2008-47 Ron Alquist This paper uses the framework of arbitrage-pricing theory to study the relationship between liquidity risk and sovereign bond risk premia. The London Stock Exchange in the late 19th century is an ideal laboratory in which to test the proposition that liquidity risk affects the price of sovereign debt. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F2, F21, F3, F34, F36, G, G1, G12, G15
McCallum Rules, Exchange Rates, and the Term Structure of Interest Rates Staff Working Paper 2008-43 Antonio Diez de los Rios McCallum (1994a) proposes a monetary rule where policymakers have some tendency to resist rapid changes in exchange rates to explain the forward premium puzzle. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Exchange rates, Interest rates, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, F, F3, F31, G, G1, G12, G15
Financial Constraints and the Cash-Holding Behaviour of Canadian Firms Staff Discussion Paper 2008-16 Darcey McVanel, Nikita Perevalov The proportion of assets held by the average Canadian firm in the form of cash has increased steadily since the early 1990s, and is now roughly twice as large as in 1990. The literature has established that the cash-holding behaviour of firms is highly correlated with financial constraints and firm characteristics. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Sectoral balance sheet JEL Code(s): G, G1, G11, G3, G32
The Impact of Sovereign Wealth Funds on International Financial Stability Staff Discussion Paper 2008-14 Tamara Gomes Over the recent period, many emerging-market economies and commodity-exporting nations have experienced unprecedented growth and accumulated substantial amounts of foreign exchange reserves. The management of these foreign reserves has led to the emergence of important financial actors: sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Financial stability, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): F, F2, F21, F3, F31, F32, G, G1, G15
Macroeconomic Determinants of the Term Structure of Corporate Spreads Staff Working Paper 2008-29 Jun Yang We investigate the macroeconomic determinants of corporate spreads using a no-arbitrage technique. Structural shocks are identified by a New-Keynesian model. Treasury bonds are priced in an affine model with time-varying risk premia. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Debt management, Financial markets, Interest rates JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E44, G, G1, G12
Good Policies or Good Fortune: What Drives the Compression in Emerging Market Spreads? Staff Working Paper 2008-25 Philipp Maier, Garima Vasishtha Since 2002, spreads on emerging market sovereign debt have fallen to historical lows. Given the close links between sovereign spreads, capital flows to emerging markets, and economic growth, understanding the factors driving these spreads is very important. We address this issue in two stages. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Development economics, Financial stability, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, F, F3, F34, G, G1, G12, G15
Information Shocks, Jumps, and Price Discovery - Evidence from the U.S. Treasury Market Staff Working Paper 2008-22 George Jiang, Ingrid Lo, Adrien Verdelhan We examine large price changes, known as jumps, in the U.S. Treasury market. Using recently developed statistical tools, we identify price jumps in the 2-, 3-, 5-, 10-year notes and 30-year bond during the period of 2005-2006. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G12, G14
On Portfolio Separation Theorems with Heterogeneous Beliefs and Attitudes towards Risk Staff Working Paper 2008-16 Fousseni Chabi-Yo, Eric Ghysels, Eric Renault The early work of Tobin (1958) showed that portfolio allocation decisions can be reduced to a two stage process: first decide the relative allocation of assets across the risky assets, and second decide how to divide total wealth between the risky assets and the safe asset. This so called twofund separation relies on special assumptions on either returns or preferences. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, D, D5, D58, G, G1, G11, G12
Credit, Asset Prices, and Financial Stress in Canada Staff Working Paper 2008-10 Miroslav Misina, Greg Tkacz Historical narratives typically associate financial crises with credit expansions and asset price misalignments. The question is whether some combination of measures of credit and asset prices can be used to predict these events. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability JEL Code(s): E, E5, G, G1, G10
The Carry Trade, Portfolio Diversification, and the Adjustment of the Japanese Yen Staff Discussion Paper 2008-2 Corinne Luu In this paper, the author considers whether fundamentals or other factors can explain the yen's ongoing weakness. In particular, the importance of capital outflows due to the carry trade and longer-term portfolio investment outflows, which may be delaying the adjustment of the yen, are investigated. A simple portfolio model is developed, composed of a speculative […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Exchange rates, International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): F, F2, F21, F3, F31, F32, G, G1, G11