International trade network and stock market connectedness: Evidence from eleven major economies

Depth of cross-country international trade engagement is an important source of (the strength of) stock-market connectedness, depicting how directional attributes of trade determine the magnitude of spillover of stock returns across economies. We premise and test this hypothesis for a group of eleven major economies during 2000 m1-2021 m6 using both system-wide and directional evidence. We exploit the input–output network of Bilgin and Yilmaz (2018) to construct a trade-network, and use Diebold and Yilmaz, 2009, Diebold and Yilmaz, 2012, Diebold and Yilmaz, 2014 Connectedness Index to proxy for stock-market connectedness among economies. We reveal China’s instrumental role in the trade-network and its rising influence in stock markets dominated by the US. Motivated by the fact that shocks on an economy’s imports and exports may lead to different magnitude of stock market spillover to its trade partner, we further carry out a pairwise directional level investigation. Once the directional dimensions of both the trade flows and the stock market influences are considered, we find that an economy’s stock return spillover to its trade partner is generated from its position as an importer and exporter. More importantly, being an importer is found to be a stronger source of such spillover than being an exporter

International trade-network and stock-market connectedness: evidence from eleven major economies

Depth of cross-country international trade engagement is an important source of (the strength of) stock-market connectedness, depicting how directional attributes of trade determine the magnitude of spillover of stock returns across economies. We premise and test this hypothesis for a group of eleven major economies during 2000m1-2021m6 using both system-wide and directional evidence. We exploit the input-output network of Bilgin and Yilmaz (2018) to construct a trade-network, and use Diebold and Yilmaz’s (2009, 2012, 2014) Connectedness Index to proxy for stock-market connectedness among economies. We reveal China’s instrumental role in the trade-network and its rising influence in stock markets dominated by the US. Motivated by the fact that shocks on an economy’s imports and exports may lead to different magnitude of stock market spillover to its trade partner, we further carry out a pairwise directional level investigation. Once the directional dimensions of both the trade flows and the stock market influences are considered, we find that an economy’s stock return spillover to its trade partner is generated from its position as an importer and exporter. More importantly, being an importer is found to be a stronger source of such spillover than being an exporter

Full Collusion with Entry and Incomplete Information

This paper studies an infinitely repeated duopoly game with incomplete information and with costly entry decisions. Every period, each player learns her private type and decides whether to pay a cost in order for her to enter or not. If she enters, she plays a game belonging to a class that includes Bertrand duopoly and some auction games as special cases, either as a monopolist or as a duopolist. The players can communicate before they make their entry decisions. We study full collusion (joint profit maximization) in this environment which requires a higher-quality player to solely enter and to choose an action maximizing the stage payoff. We present a condition on the stage game which is both necessary and sufficient in order for full collusion to be an equilibrium outcome for sufficiently patient players. The condition is more likely to hold when the entry cost increases, which signifies that the entry cost is an important factor facilitating full collusion. We also show that under some parameter restrictions, asymmetric equilibria where only one player reveals her type every period sustain full collusion for a wider range of discount factors. These asymmetric equilibria reduce the total amount of communication, which makes it harder for antitrust authorities to detect collusion

Comparison between intravenous dexmedetomidine and midazolam for sedation during upper extremity surgeries under supraclavicular brachial plexus block

Background: The search for an ideal sedative agent during surgery under brachial plexus block still goes on. Midazolam is commonly used as a intraoperative sedative but it has no impact on brachial plexus block. Dexmedetomidine is a new alpha 2 receptor agonist used widely for sedation. Our aim was to compare the efficacy of  equivalent doses of dexmedetomidine infusion with midazolam  on sedation,block characteristics and patient satisfaction. Methods: In this study, 100 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I and II patients posted for forearm surgeries under ultrasound-guided brachial plexus block were divided to receive either midazolam (Group M) or dexmedetomidine (Group D) infusion. They were administered an initial loading dose of the midazolam and  dexmedetomidine over 10 min followed by a maintenance dose till the end of the surgery. Effect on sedation,block characteristics and patient satisfaction were monitored. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Time of onset of sedation was earlier in dexemedetomidine group compared to midazolam group. Profile of  block characteristics was better compared to midazolam group. Patient satisfaction score was greater in dexemedetomidine group compared to midazolam group.Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine may  be a better alternative to midazolam for sedation in patients undergoing surgeries in brachial plexus block