2,824 research outputs found

    Regime-Switching Behavior of the Term Structure of Forward Markets

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    This paper presents techniques for modelling and estimating the behavior of financial market price or return differentials that follow non-linear regime-switching behaviour. The methodology to be used here is estimation of variants of threshold autoregression (TAR) models. In the basic model the differentials are random within a band defined by transactions costs and contract risk; they occasionally jump outside the band, and then follow an autoregressive path back towards the band. The principal reference is Tchernykh (1998). The application here is to deviations from covered interest parity (CIP) between forward foreign exchange (FX) markets in Hong Kong and the Philippines. We have observed that these deviations from the band follow irregular steps, rather than single jumps. Therefore a Modified TAR model (MTAR) that allows for this behaviour is also estimated. The estimation methodology is a regime-switching maximum likelihood procedure. The estimates can provide indicators for policy-makers of the market's expectation of crisis, and could also provide indicators for the private sector of convergence of deviations to their usual bands. The TAR model has the potential to be applied to differentials between linked pairs of financial market prices more generally.

    Bayesian Methods in Nonlinear Time Series

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    This paper reviews the analysis of the threshold autoregressive, smooth threshold autoregressive, and Markov switching autoregressive models from the Bayesian perspective. For each model we start by describing a baseline model and discussing possible extensions and applications. Then we review the choice of prior, inference, tests against the linear hypothesis, and conclude with models selection. A short discussion of recent progress in incorporating regime changes into theoretical macroeconomic models concludes our survey.Threshold, Smooth Threshold, Markov-switching

    Exchange Rate Monitoring Bands: Theory and Policy

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    Recent empirical research by Mark Taylor and coauthors has found evidence of hybrid dynamics for the real exchange rate. While there is a random walk near equilibrium, for real exchange rates some distance from equilibrium there is mean-reversion which increases with the degree of misalignment. An interesting question is whether this nonlinear mean-reversion is policy-induced. John Williamson (1998) for example, has proposed a "monitoring band" in which there is no intervention near equilibrium but there is substantial intervention triggered by exchange rate deviations outside a preset band. In this paper we develop a theoretical model for a stylised monitoring band to see whether it can generate patterns of nonlinear mean-reversion akin to those reported in empirical researchMonitoring Band, Non-linear Mean-Reversion, Near Random Walk Dynamics

    Term structure estimation without using latent factors

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    A combination of observed and unobserved (latent) factors capture term structure dynamics. Information about these dynamics is extracted from observed factors without specifying or estimating any of the parameters associated with latent factors. Estimation is equivalent to fitting the moment conditions of a set of regressions, where no-arbitrage imposes cross equation restrictions on the coefficients. The methodology is applied to the dynamics of inflation and yields. Outside of the disinflationary period of 1979 through 1983, short-term rates move one for one with expected inflation, while bond risk premia are insensitive to inflation.

    The Coordination Channel of Foreign Exchange Intervention

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    If strong and persistent misalignments of the exchange rate are caused by non-fundamental influences, such that a return to equilibrium is hampered by a coordination failure among fundamentals-based traders, then central bank intervention may act as a coordinating signal, encouraging stabilizing speculators to re-enter the market at the same time. We develop this idea in the framework of a simple microstructural model of exchange rate movements, which we then estimate using daily data on the dollar-mark exchange rate and on Federal Reserve and Bundesbank intervention operations. The results are supportive of the existence of a coordination channel of intervention effectivenessforeign exchange intervention, market microstructure, nonlinear mean reversion

    Term structure transmission of monetary policy

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    Under bond rate transmission of monetary policy, standard restrictions on policy responses to obtain determinate inflation need not apply. In periods of passive policy, bond rates may exhibit stable responses to inflation if future policy is anticipated to be active, or if time-varying term premiums incorporate inflation-dependent risk pricing. We derive a generalized Taylor Principle that requires a lower bound to the average anticipated path of forward rate responses to inflation. We also present a no-arbitrage term structure model with horizon-dependent policy and time-varying term premiums to explain mechanics and provide empirical results supporting these channels

    Detecting Switching Strategies in Equity Hedge Funds

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    Equity hedge funds are thought to effectively operate market timing by implementing switching strategies conditional on market circumstances. In this paper we use only the reported monthly returns on a set of funds to infer the type of switching strategies they follow, if any, as well as their switching times. A set of regime-switching models for each equity hedge funds’ returns against various benchmarks are estimated; subsequently we answer the following general questions: What proportion of equity funds seem to have switching strategies in place? Which are the most popular instruments for switching strategies? And what is the relationship between the switching times of different funds? The general methodology applied in this paper may be useful to investors that wish to detect, from only from their reported returns, whether and when a particular fund has been timing the market.

    Yield curve prediction for the strategic investor

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    This paper presents a new framework allowing strategic investors to generate yield curve projections contingent on expectations about future macroeconomic scenarios. By consistently linking the shape and location of yield curves to the state of the economy our method generates predictions for the full yield-curve distribution under different assumptions on the future state of the economy. On the technical side, our model represents a regimeswitching expansion of Diebold and Li (2003) and hence rests on the Nelson-Siegel functional form set in state-space form. We allow transition probabilities in the regimeswitching set-up to depend on observed macroeconomic variables and thus create a link between the macro economy and the shape and location of yield curves and their time-series evolution. The model is successfully applied to US yield curve data covering the period from 1953 to 2004 and encouraging out-of-sample results are obtained, in particular at forecasting horizons longer than 24 months. JEL Classification: C51, C53, E44Regime switching, scenario analysis, state space model, yield curve distributions

    Firms entry, monetary policy and the international business cycle

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    This paper provides a novel theory of the international business cycle grounded on firms entry and sticky prices. It shows that under simple monetary rules pro-cyclical entry can generate fluctuations in consumption, output and investment as large as those observed in the data while at the same time providing positive international comovements and highly volatile terms of trade. The capacity to capture these stylized facts of the international business cycle overcomes the well-known difficulties of the standard open economy real business cycle model in this regard. Numerical simulations show that floating regimes exacerbate counter-cyclical markup movements. Fixed regimes, on the other hand, lead to an increase in the volatility of?firm entry.product variety, firm entry, international business cycle, monetary policy, interest rate rules, exchange rate regimes

    Yield Curve Predictability, Regimes, and Macroeconomic Information: A Data-Driven Approach

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    We propose an empirical approach to determine the various economic sources driving the US yield curve. We allow the conditional dynamics of the yield at different maturities to change in reaction to past information coming from several relevant predictor variables. We consider both endogenous, yield curve factors and exogenous, macroeconomic factors as predictors in our model, letting the data themselves choose the most important variables. We find clear, different economic patterns in the local dynamics and regime specification of the yields depending on the maturity. Moreover, we present strong empirical evidence for the accuracy of the model in fitting in-sample and predicting out-of-sample the yield curve in comparison to several alternative approaches.Yield curve modeling and forecasting; Macroeconomic variables; Tree-structured models; Threshold regimes; GARCH; Bagging
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