Firm productivity, exchange rate movements, sources of finance and export orientation

We investigate the level and volatility effects of exchange rates on the productivity growth of manufacturing firms with heterogenous access to debt, and domestic and foreign equity markets in Turkey. We find that while exchange rate volatility affects productivity growth negatively, having access to foreign or domestic equity, or debt markets does not alleviate these effects. Furthermore, foreign owned or publicly traded companies do not appear to perform significantly better than the rest. We detect, however, that firm productivity is positively related to having access to external credit. Additionally, we find that while export (inward) oriented firms are affected less (more) by exchange rate appreciations, they are more (less) sensitive to exchange rate volatility

Determinants of Financial vs. Non Financial Stock Returns: Evidence from Istanbul Stock Exchange

We estimate a four-factor model for a sample of financial and nonfinancial firms traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE). The factors relate to market return, interest, inflation and exchange rates. By investigating the effects of these factors simultaneously for different exchange rate regimes, we show that market return, interest, inflation, and exchange rates play a separate role in financial and nonfinancial firms´ stock returns. We also show that all factors are priced during the period of free float. These results are important for determining financial institutions' cost of capital and for identifying the risks that should be hedged

Trade Flows, Exchange Rate Uncertainty and Financial Depth: Evidence from 28 Emerging Countries

We investigate the effects of real exchange rate uncertainty and financial depth on manufactures exports from 28 emerging economies to the North and South over 1978-2005. We estimate a dynamic panel model using system GMM approach and show that for the majority of countries in our sample exchange rate uncertainty affects both South-South and South-North trade negatively. Furthermore, for several cases we discover that this effect is unidirectional, that is South-South or South-North. In addition, we find that while financial depth plays a trade-enhancing role, exchange rate shocks can negate this effect. We also show that trade among developing economies is likely to enhance export growth

Effects of Exchange Rate Volatility on the Volume and Volatility of Bilateral Exports

We present an empirical investigation of a recently suggested but untested proposition that exchange rate volatility can have an impact on both the volume and variability of trade flows, considering a broad set of countries' bilateral real trade flows over the period 1980-1998. We generate proxies for the volatility of real trade flows and real exchange rates after carefully scrutinizing these variables' time series properties. Similar to the findings of earlier theoretical and empirical research, our first set of results show that the impact of exchange rate uncertainty on trade flows is indeterminate. Our second set of results provide new and novel findings that exchange rate volatility has a consistent positive and significant effect on the volatility of bilateral trade flows.exchange rates, volatility, fractional integration, trade flows

Digital flight control systems

The design of stable feedback control laws for sampled-data systems with variable rate sampling was investigated. These types of sampled-data systems arise naturally in digital flight control systems which use digital actuators where it is desirable to decrease the number of control computer output commands in order to save wear and tear of the associated equipment. The design of aircraft control systems which are optimally tolerant of sensor and actuator failures was also studied. Detection of the failed sensor or actuator must be resolved and if the estimate of the state is used in the control law, then it is also desirable to have an estimator which will give the optimal state estimate even under the failed conditions

The second moments matter: The response of bank lending behaviour to macroeconomic uncertainty

This paper investigates whether variations in macroeconomic uncertainty distort banks' allocation of loanable funds by affecting the predictability of banks' returns from lending. Low levels of macroeconomic uncertainty will allow bankers to base their lending decisions on more accurate evaluations of different lending opportunities, leading to a more unequal distribution of lending across banks. Contrarily, increased macroeconomic uncertainty will hinder bankers ability to identify and channel funds towards the best opportunities, including more similar lending behaviour across banks. Our empirical analysis provides support for the hypothesis that macroeconomic uncertainty adversely affects the efficient allocation of loanable banks.

The second moments matter: The response of bank lending behavior to macroeconomic uncertainty

In this paper we investigate whether macroeconomic uncertainty could distort banks’ allocation of loanable funds. To provide a road- map for our empirical investigation, we present a simple framework which demonstrates that lower uncertainty about the return from lending should lead to a more unequal distribution of lending across banks as managers take advantage of more precise knowledge of different lending opportunities. When bank-specific differences in lending opportunities are harder to predict, we should observe less cross-sectional variation in loan-to-asset ratios. Using a comprehensive U.S. commercial bank data set, we receive support for our hypothesis.Bank lending, financial intermediation, credit, macroeconomic, uncertainty, panel data, ARCH.

The Impact of Macroeconomic Uncertainty on Bank Lending Behavior

bank lending, macroeconomic uncertainty, panel data, ARCH

The Impact of Macroeconomic Uncertainty onNon-Financial Firms’ Demandf or Liquidity

This paper empirically investigates whether changes in macroeconomic volatility affect the effcient allocation of non-financial firms' liquid assets. We argue that higher uncertainty will hamper managers' ability to accurately predict firm-specific information and induce them to implement similar cash management policies. Contrarily, when the macroeconomic environment becomes more tranquil, each manger will have the latitude to behave more idiosyncratically as she can adjust liquid assets based on the specific requirements of the firm, bringing about a more efficient allocation of liquid assets. Our empirical analysis provides support for these predictions.

Uncertainty Determinants of Corporate Liquidity

This paper investigates the link between the optimal level of non-financial firms' liquid assets and uncertainty. We develop a partial equilibrium model of precautionary demand for liquid assets showing that firms alter their liquidity ratio in response to changes in either macroeconomic or idiosyncratic uncertainty. We test this hypothesis using a panel of non-financial US firms drawn from the COMPUSTAT quarterly database covering the period 1993-2002. The results indicate that firms increase their liquidity ratios when macroeconomic uncertainty or idiosyncratic uncertainty increases.liquidity, uncertainty, non-financial firms, dynamic panel data