Market structure and pricing
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Market Structure and the Diffusion of E-Commerce: Evidence from the Retail Banking Industry
This paper studies the role that market structure plays in affecting the diffusion of electronic banking. Electronic banking (and electronic commerce more generally) reduces the cost of performing many types of transactions for firms. -
On Portfolio Separation Theorems with Heterogeneous Beliefs and Attitudes towards Risk
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. -
March 17, 2008
Price Discovery Across Geographic Locations in the Foreign Exchange Market
The ongoing process of price discovery in foreign exchange markets provides valuable information to certain market participants. Recent empirical findings suggest that aggregate measures of order flow convey information about the fundamental value of the exchange rate. Using a market microstructure approach, D'Souza reports on a two-year study of completed transactions within the Canadian and Australian exchange rate markets to examine the relationship between exchange rate returns and trades initiated in different locations. Based on the information content of the trades, he finds that geographic location and hours of operation are two of the factors driving informed interdealer trading. -
An Overview of Carbon Markets and Emissions Trading: Lessons for Canada
The author provides an overview of carbon markets and explains how emissions trading can be important in encouraging the reduction of CO2 emissions in an efficient manner. He describes the key steps in establishing a cap-and-trade system, and reviews the European experiences with emissions trading. He highlights the lessons learned from the EU Emissions Trading […] -
Where Does Price Discovery Occur in FX Markets?
Trades in foreign exchange markets are initiated around the world and around the clock. This study illustrates that trades are more informative when initiated in a local country or in major foreign exchange centers like London and New York. -
Implications of Asymmetry Risk for Portfolio Analysis and Asset Pricing
Asymmetric shocks are common in markets; securities' payoffs are not normally distributed and exhibit skewness. This paper studies the portfolio holdings of heterogeneous agents with preferences over mean, variance and skewness, and derives equilibrium prices. -
Price Discovery in Canadian and U.S. 10-Year Government Bond Markets
This paper presents some new results on the price discovery process in both the Canadian and U.S. 10-year Government bond markets using high-frequency data not previously analyzed. Using techniques introduced by Hasbrouck (1995) and Gonzalo-Granger (1995), we look at the relative information content of cash and futures prices in the market for Canadian Government bonds using futures market data from the Montreal Exchange and OTC cash market data reflecting the inter-dealer market covered by CanPx. -
April 14, 2007
The Canadian Overnight Market: Recent Evolution and Structural Changes
Since 1997 when the Bank of Canada last published a review of the Canadian overnight market, several important changes have affected the market's structure and dynamics. Reid provides a current overview of the market, examining the financial instruments, market transparency and flows, and the collateralized overnight rate as it has evolved since the introduction of the Large Value Transfer System and the fixed announcement dates. Other significant influences include changes in market practices regarding risk management, the rise of securities lending, the increased demand for collateral, and the Bank of Canada's measures to reinforce the target for the overnight rate. -
Price Formation and Liquidity Provision in Short-Term Fixed Income Markets
Differences in market structures may affect the manner in which fundamental information is incorporated into prices. High levels of quote and trade transparency plus substantial quoting obligations in European government securities markets ensure that prices are informationally efficient.