A note on the effect of expected changes in monetary policy on long-term interest rates

The ability of monetary policy to affect long-term interest rates is of central importance for economics and finance. Several recent studies have shown that long-term interest rates are virtually unaffected by monetary policy. This paper develops a statistical methodology to identify the expected and unexpected changes in monetary policy as measured by the federal funds rate. The empirical evidence shows that expected changes in the funds rate cause stronger and more significant movements in the long-term rates. Further, ignoring such asymmetry can erroneously generate the insignificant responses of long-term interest rates to the changes in the monetary policy.Long-term interest rate, monetary policy, asymmetry

Asset and Commodity Prices with Multiattribute Durable Goods

We consider a pure exchange representative agent economy with perishable and durable commodities in which the durable good provides status as well as services. We examine the effects of the durable's attributes on demands and equilibrium prices. When the attributes are perfect substitutes irreversibility of the durable's purchases may cause temporary excesses of actual services over their desired level. Stickiness in adjustment is asymmetric since increases in desired status level are met by immediate purchases. We show that the equilibrium interest rate depends, in particular, on the growth rates of the durable's attributes and that asset risk premia satisfy a two-beta consumption CAPM. Conditions under which durability increases asset risk premia are provided. Nous considérons une économie de pur échange à agent représentatif avec biens périssables et durables dans laquelle le bien durable procure du statut ainsi que des services. Nous examinons les effets de ces deux attributs du bien durable sur les demandes et les prix d'équilibre. Lorsque les attributs sont des substituts parfaits l'irréversibilité des achats du durable peut créer des excès temporaires de services courants par rapport à leur niveau désiré. L'inflexibilité de l'ajustement est asymmétrique puisqu'une augmentation du niveau de statut désiré est réalisée par des achats immédiats. Nous démontrons que le taux d'intérêt d'équilibre dépend, en particulier, des taux de croissance des attributs du bien durable et que les primes de risque vérifient un MÉDAF de consommation à deux bétas. Nous examinons les conditions sous lesquelles la durabilité augmente les primes de risque des actifs financiers.Durables, status attribute, services, asset and commodity prices, interest rate, Biens durables, statut, services, prix des actifs et des biens, taux d'intérêt.

Reengineering of interbank networks

We investigate the reengineeering of interbank networks with a specific focus on capital increase. We consider a scenario where all other components of the network’s infrastructure remain stable (a practical assumption for short-term situations). Our objective is to assess the impact of raising capital on the network’s robustness and to address the following key aspects. First, given a predefined target for network robustness, our aim is to achieve this goal optimally, minimizing the required capital increase. Second, in cases where a total capital increase has been determined, the central challenge lies in distributing this increase among the banks in a manner that maximizes the stability of the network. To tackle these challenges, we begin by developing a comprehensive theoretical framework. Subsequently, we formulate an optimization model for the network’s redesign. Finally, we apply this framework to practical examples, highlighting its applicability in real-world scenarios

COVID‑19, Race/Ethnicity, and Age: the Role of Telemedicine to Close the Gaps on Health Disparities

The novel COVID-19 outbreak is a major public health challenge that quickly turned into an economic recession of great proportions. This pandemic poses a trade-off between health and the economy where social distancing, quarantines, and isolation shut down demand and supply chains across the USA. This paper analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on illness and death among older adults and communities of color with low socioeconomic status in New York City. To achieve this goal, fractional logit models are used to capture changes in the novel virus’ morbidity and mortality rates at the neighborhood level. Median income, race/ethnicity, age, household crowding, and socially interactive employment explained the disproportionate exposure and fatalities across the city. We also employ a variable related to telehealth/telemedicine to sustain that technology goods along with government intervention as a provider of social goods can ameliorate existing health disparities. There is a need for evidence-based data on the economic costs and social benefits of COVID-19 relief programs

The properties of realized volatility and realized correlation: evidence from the Indian stock market

This paper investigates the properties of realized volatility and correlation series in the Indian stock market by employing daily data converting to monthly frequency of five different stock indices from January 2, 2006 to November 30, 2014. Using non-parametric estimation technique the properties examined include normality, long-memory, asymmetries, jumps, and heterogeneity. The realized volatility is a useful technique which provides a relatively accurate measure of volatility based on the actual variance which is beneficial for asset management in particular for non-speculative funds. The results show that realized volatility and correlation series are not normally distributed, with some evidence of persistence. Asymmetries are also evident in both volatilities and correlations. Both jumps and heterogeneity properties are significant; whereas, the former is more significant than the latter. The findings show that properties of volatilities and correlations in Indian stock market have similarities as that show in the stock markets in developed countries such as the stock market in the United States which is more prevalent for speculative business traders

Equity Premium with Habits, Wealth Inequality and Background Risk

In an exchange economy with endowment inequality, we investigate how preferences with external habits affect the equity risk premium. We show that the dynamics of external additive habits with wealth inequality are complex when a background risk is present. It is ambiguous whether wealth inequality will increase or decrease the equity premium even when the income uncertainty is low. This result extends literature by suggesting that wealth inequality has a small role in explaining asset pricing puzzles

Gender Differences in Risk-Taking Investment Strategies in Defined Contribution Plans

We study gender differences in risk-taking investment strategies in Defined Contribution (DC) Plans with the help of data from the US Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). By DC plans, we refer not only to employer-sponsored plans such as 401(k)s and 403(b)s, but also to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and Roth and Keogh accounts. We suggest our own split of the SCF DC plans into risk-free and risky ones, and we build risky shares of total DC plans. We compare the risky shares of females and males in two different settings. In the first setting, we work with two samples of single people, and in the second setting we work with an extended SCF sample. In both settings, we conclude that there are no significant differences in the risky shares of total DC plans between (single) women and (single) men but that there are significant gender differences in risky IRAs and 401(k)s between (single) women and (single) men. We conclude with policy implications

The "Lack" of Volatility Trade-Offs in Exchange Rate Zones with Sticky Prices

Abstract In target zone regimes, volatility trade-offs between the nominal exchange rate and the nominal interest rate differential depend on the underlying monetary model assumption. In an economy with price rigidities there exists no such trade-off when the exchange rate overshoots