Non-monotonic long memory dynamics in black-market premia

The dynamic response of Black market premia to domestic shocks is an important issue in the design and implementation of stabilization and reform programs. We use a vector autoregressive fractionally integrated model to provide new evidence on the dynamics of the official and Black market exchange rates. We show that the official and Black market exchange rates in Hungary are cointegrated with a negative fractional order ofintegration in the cointegrating residuals. The new empirical finding means that the cointegrating residuals are positively autocorrelated in the short run due to autoregressive dynamics, but are negatively autocorrelated in the long run. The rich and complex dynamics of the premia suggests the existence of what we call long memory non-monotonicity.Foreign exchange rates ; Vector autoregression

Heterogeneous Information Arrival and Option Pricing

We model the arrival of heterogeneous information in a financial market as a doubly-stochastic Poisson process (DSPP). A DSPP is a member of the family of Poisson processes in which the mean value of the process itself is governed by a stochastic mechanism. We explore the implications for pricing stock, index and foreign currency options of the assumption that the under- lying security evolves as a mixed diffusion DSPP. We derive an intertemporal CAPM and demonstrate that accounting for heterogeneous information arrival may minimize the ubiquitous pricing bias 'smile-effect' of standard option pricing models. We propose a conceptually simple but numerically intensive maximum likelihood estimator of the parameters of a DSPP. A simulation study verifies the adequacy of the asymptotic approximations in finite samples.

Capital Income Taxation and Risk-Taking in a Small Open Economy

How do capital income taxes affect household portfolio choice and growth? We" approach this question within the context of a stochastic model of a small open economy in" which taxes on income from domestic capital (equity) and foreign bonds affect household" portfolio choice, welfare and the growth rate of the economy. The theoretical and numerical" analysis demonstrates the important role that risk plays in determining the mean and variability" of growth as well as the conditions under which a higher tax rate can be welfare improving. To" shed more light on the complex theoretical interaction between taxes and risk-taking we estimate" a reduced-form multinomial probit model of household portfolio choice using the method of" simulated moments. The empirical evidence is in stark contrast to the conventional wisdom " we find that higher taxes make it less likely that the household will hold risky assets."

Lending Cycles

We investigate the lending behavior of banks by exploiting a rich panel dataset on the contract terms of approximately two million commercial and industrial loans granted by 580 banks between 1977-1993. Using a Markov switching panel model we demonstrate that banks change their lending standards from tightness to laxity systematically over the cycle. We then use an efficient minimum chi-square estimator to examine the relationship between the cyclical component of aggregate unemployment and bank lending standards when both variables are jointly endogenously determined in a system of simultaneous equations with mixed, continuous/discrete dependent variables. The patterns we uncover suggest that lax lending standards that tend to occur during expansions exert considerable influence on the dynamics of aggregate fluctuations.

Pattern recognition receptors in immune disorders affecting the skin.

Contains fulltext : 109004.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) evolved to protect organisms against pathogens, but excessive signaling can induce immune responses that are harmful to the host. Putative PRR dysfunction is associated with numerous immune disorders that affect the skin, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome, and primary inflammatory skin diseases including psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. As yet, the evidence is often confined to genetic association studies without additional proof of a causal relationship. However, insight into the role of PRRs in the pathophysiology of some disorders has already resulted in new therapeutic approaches based on immunomodulation of PRRs