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 Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): D, D8, D81, G, G1, G10, G12
Linking Real Activity and Financial Markets: The Bonds, Equity, and Money (BEAM) Model Staff Working Paper 2006-42 Céline Gauthier, Fuchun Li The authors estimate a small monthly macroeconometric model (BEAM, for bonds, equity, and money) of the Canadian economy built around three cointegrating relationships linking financial and real variables over the 1975–2002 period. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial stability JEL Code(s): C, C5, E, E4
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 Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C6, C61, G, G1, G12, G13
October 3, 2006 A New Effective Exchange Rate Index for the Canadian Dollar Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2006 Janone Ong An effective exchange rate is a measure of the value of a country's currency vis-à-vis the currencies of its most important trading partners. The Bank of Canada has created a new Canadian-dollar effective exchange rate index (CERI) to replace the C-6 index that it currently uses. The CERI uses multilateral trade weights published by the International Monetary Fund and includes the six currencies of countries or economic zones with the largest share of Canada's international trade. As such, it better reflects the recent changes in Canada's trade profile, including the rise in the importance of China and Mexico and the relative decline in importance of Europe and Japan in Canada's international trade. The author describes the methodology and construction of the new index and reviews the advantages it offers over the C-6, particularly the use of multilateral trade weights, the inclusion of trade in services, and the use of more recent trade data. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Exchange rates, Financial markets, Monetary and financial indicators
Estimation of the Default Risk of Publicly Traded Canadian Companies Staff Working Paper 2006-28 Georges Dionne, Sadok Laajimi, Sofiane Mejri, Madalina Petrescu Two models of default risk are prominent in the financial literature: Merton's structural model and Altman's non-structural model. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Debt management, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, G24, G28, G3, G33
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 Topic(s): Economic models, Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G12
April 12, 2006 The Evolution of the Government of Canada's Debt Distribution Framework Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2006 Marc Pellerin This overview includes a brief history highlighting the government's use of the primary and secondary markets to develop a framework for distributing its debt securities to financial market intermediaries and end investors. The framework is also intended to meet the government's debt-strategy objectives of raising stable, low-cost funding and maintaining a well-functioning debt market. Pellerin reviews the government's adoption of a new framework in 1998 as well as the 2005 modifications aimed at attracting continued broad and competitive participation in government auctions. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Debt management, Financial markets
A Structural Error-Correction Model of Best Prices and Depths in the Foreign Exchange Limit Order Market Staff Working Paper 2006-8 Ingrid Lo, Stephen Sapp Traders using the electronic limit order book in the foreign exchange market can watch the posted price and depth of the best quotes change over the day. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C3, D, D8, F, F3, F31
October 18, 2005 What Drives Movements in Exchange Rates? Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2005 Jeannine Bailliu, Michael R. King Understanding what causes the exchange rate to move has been on ongoing challenge for economists. Despite extensive research, traditional macro models of exchange rate determination—with the exception of the Bank of Canada's exchange rate equation—have typically not fared well, motivating economists to explore new ways to model exchange rate movements that incorporate more complex and realistic settings. Within the context of the sharp appreciation of the Canadian dollar in 2003 and 2004, Bailliu and King review the macroeconomic models of exchange rates, as well as the micro-structure studies that highlight the importance of trading mechanisms, information asymmetry, and investor heterogeneity for explaining short-term dynamics in exchange rates. In addition to summarizing the current state of knowledge, they highlight recent advances and identify promising alternative approaches. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Economic models, Exchange rates, Financial markets
Uninsured Idiosyncratic Production Risk with Borrowing Constraints Staff Working Paper 2005-26 Francisco Covas The author analyzes a general-equilibrium model of a heterogeneous agents economy in which the agents are subject to borrowing constraints and uninsurable idiosyncratic production risk. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Financial institutions, Financial markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E22, G, G1, G11, M, M1, M13