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This study looks at the interrelationship between fiscal policy and safe assets as there is surprisingly little analysis about this beyond fleeting references. The study argues that from a certain point more public debt will not “buy” more safety: countries face a kind of “safe-assets Laffer curve” with a maximum amount of safe assets at some level of indebtedness. The position and “stability” of this curve depend on a number of national and international factors, including the international risk appetite and, as a more recent factor, QE policies by central banks. The study also finds evidence of declining safe assets as reflected in government debt ratings.
Using experimental data from a comprehensive field study, we explore the causal effects of algorithmic discrimination on economic efficiency and social welfare. We harness economic, game-theoretic, and state-of-the-art machine learning concepts allowing us to overcome the central challenge of missing counterfactuals, which generally impedes assessing economic downstream consequences of algorithmic discrimination. This way, we are able to precisely quantify downstream efficiency and welfare ramifications, which provides us a unique opportunity to assess whether the introduction of an AI system is actually desirable. Our results highlight that AI systems’ capabilities in enhancing welfare critically depends on the degree of inherent algorithmic biases. While an unbiased system in our setting outperforms humans and creates substantial welfare gains, the positive impact steadily decreases and ultimately reverses the more biased an AI system becomes. We show that this relation is particularly concerning in selective-labels environments, i.e., settings where outcomes are only observed if decision-makers take a particular action so that the data is selectively labeled, because commonly used technical performance metrics like the precision measure are prone to be deceptive. Finally, our results depict that continued learning, by creating feedback loops, can remedy algorithmic discrimination and associated negative effects over time.
The theoretical derivation of credit market segmentation as the result of a free market process
(2003)
Information asymmetries make it difficult for banks to assess accurately whether specific entrepreneurs are able and/or willing to repay their loans. This leads to implicit interest rate ceilings, i.e. banks "refuse" to increase their interest rates beyond this ceiling as this would lower their net returns. Although the maximum interest rate increases as the size of enterprises decreases, such ceilings nonetheless constrain the banks’ ability to set interest rates at a level that would enable them to cover costs. If transaction costs are high, the total costs associated with granting small and medium-sized loans will exceed the maximum average return which the banks can earn by issuing such loans. For this reason, banks do not lend to small and medium-sized enterprises, and, as a consequence, these businesses have no access to formal sector loans. Because micro and small enterprises have a very high RoI, it is worthwhile for them to rely on expensive informal loans to finance their operations, at least until they reach a certain size. Once they have reached this size, however, it does not make economic sense for them to continue taking out informal credits, and thus they face a growth constraint imposed by the credit market. Medium-sized enterprises earn a lower RoI than small ones, which is why borrowing in the informal credit market is not a worthwhile option for them. Moreover, they do not have access to credit from formal financial institutions, and are thus excluded from obtaining any kind of financing in either of the two credit markets. As the result of free, unregulated market forces we get a stable equilibrium in which the credit market is segmented into an informal (small loan) segment, a formal (large loan) segment and, in between, a "non-market" (medium loan) segment.
After the Global Financial Crisis a controversial rush to fiscal austerity followed in many countries. Yet research on the effects of austerity on macroeconomic aggregates was and still is unsettled, mired by the difficulty of identifying multipliers from observational data. This paper reconciles seemingly disparate estimates of multipliers within a unified and state-contingent framework. We achieve identification of causal effects with new propensity-score based methods for time series data. Using this novel approach, we show that austerity is always a drag on growth, and especially so in depressed economies: a one percent of GDP fiscal consolidation translates into 4 percent lower real GDP after five years when implemented in the slump rather than the boom. We illustrate our findings with a counterfactual evaluation of the impact of the U.K. government’s shift to austerity policies in 2010 on subsequent growth.
We use data from a German online brokerage and a survey to show that retail investors sharply reduce risk-taking in response to nearby firm bankruptcies, which are not pre- dictive of returns. The effects on trading are spatially highly concentrated, immediate and not persistent. They seem to operate through more pessimistic expected returns and increased risk aversion and do not reflect wealth effects or changes in background risks. Investors learn about bankruptcies through immediate coverage in local newspapers. Our findings suggest that non-informative local experiences that make downside risks of stock investment more salient contribute to idiosyncratic short-term fluctuations in trading.
This paper defends The Transformation of Values into Prices on the Basis of Random Systems, published in EIER, by answering to the Comments made in the same journal by Professors Mori, Morioka and Yamazaki. The clarifications mainly concern the justification of the randomness assumptions, the conditions needed to obtain the equality of total profit with total surplus value in the simplified one-industry system and the invariance of the results to changes in the units of measurement.
In recent methodological work the well known ACD approach, originally introduced by Engle and Russell (1998), has been supplemented by the involvement of an unobservable stochastic process which accompanies the underlying process of durations via a discrete mixture of distributions. The Mixture ACD model, emanating from the specialized proposal of De Luca and Gallo (2004), has proved to be a moderate tool for description of financial duration data. The use of one and the same family of ordinary distributions has been common practice until now. Our contribution incites to use the rich parameterized comprehensive family of distributions which allows for interacting different distributional idiosyncrasies. JEL classification: C41, C22, C25, C51, G14
In recent methodological work the well known ACD approach, originally introduced by Engle and Russell (1998), has been supplemented by the involvement of an unobservable stochastic process which accompanies the underlying process of durations via a discrete mixture of distributions. The Mixture ACD model, emanating from the specialized proposal of De Luca and Gallo (2004), has proved to be a moderate tool for description of financial duration data. The use of one and the same family of ordinary distributions has been common practice until now. Our contribution incites to use the rich parameterized comprehensive family of distributions which allows for interacting different distributional idiosyncrasies. JEL classification: C41, C22, C25, C51, G14.
This study contributes to the valuation of employee stock options (ESO) in two ways: First, a new pricing model is presented, admitting a major part of calculations to be solved in closed form. Designed with a focus on good replication of empirics, the model fits with publicly observable exercise characteristics better than earlier models. In particular, it is able to account for the correlation of the time of exercise and the stock price at exercise, suspected of being crucial for the option value. The impact of correlation is weak, however, whereas cancellations play a central role. The second contribution of this paper is an examination to what extent the ESO pricing method of SFAS 123 is subject to discretion of the accountant. Given my model were true, the SFAS price would be a good proxy. Yet, outside shareholders usually cannot observe one of the SFAS input parameters. On behalf of an example I show that there is wide latitude left to the accountant.
This study contributes to the valuation of employee stock options (ESO) in two ways: First, a new pricing model is presented, admitting a major part of calculations to be solved in closed form. Designed with a focus on good replication of empirics, the model fits with publicly observable exercise characteristics better than earlier models. In particular, it is able to account for the correlation of the time of exercise and the stock price at exercise, suspected of being crucial for the option value. The impact of correlation is weak, however, whereas cancellations play a central role. The second contribution of this paper is an examination to what extent the ESO pricing method of SFAS 123 is subject to discretion of the accountant. Given my model were true, the SFAS price would be a good proxy. Yet, outside shareholders usually cannot observe one of the SFAS input parameters. On behalf of an example I show that there is wide latitude left to the accountant.
This paper presents causal evidence of the effects of boardroom networks on firm value. We exploit exogenous variation in network centrality arising from a ban on interlocking directorates of Italian financial and insurance companies. We leverage this shock to show that firms that become more central in the network as a result of the shock experience positive abnormal returns around the announcement date. We find that information dissemination plays a central role: results are driven by firms that have higher idiosyncratic volatility, low analyst coverage, and more uncertainty surrounding their earnings forecasts. We also find that firms benefit more from boardroom centrality when they are more central in the input-output network, as this reinforces information complementarities, or when they are less central in the cross-ownership network, as well as when they suffer from low profitability and low growth opportunities. Network centrality also results in higher compensation for board directors.
Public employee pension systems throughout the developed world have traditionally been of the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) defined benefit (DB) variety, where pensioner payments are financed by taxes (contributions) levied on the working generation. But as the number of retirees rises relative to the working-age group, such systems have begun to face financial distress. This trend has been exacerbated in many countries, among them Germany, by high unemployment rates producing further deterioration of the contribution base. In the long run, public sector pension benefits will have to be cut or contributions increased, if the systems are to be maintained. An alternative path sometimes offered to ease the crunch of paying for public employee pensions is to move toward funding: here, plan assets are gradually built up, invested, and enhanced returns devoted to partly defray civil servants’ pension costs. In this study, we evaluate the impact of introducing partial prefunding, paired with a strategic investment policy for the German federal state of Hesse. The analysis assesses the impact of introducing a supplementary tax-sponsored pension fund whose contributions are invested in the capital market and used to relieve the state budget from (some) pension payments. Our model determines the expectation and the Conditional Value-at-Risk of economic pension costs using a stochastic simulation process for pension plan assets. This approach simultaneously determines the optimal contribution rate and asset allocation that controls the expected economic costs of providing the promised pensions, while at the same time controlling investment risk. Specifically, we offer answers to the following questions: 1. How can the plan be designed to control cash-flow shortfall risk, so as to mitigate the potential burden borne by future generations of taxpayers? 2. What is the optimal asset allocation for this fund as it is built up, to generate a maximum return while simultaneously restricting capital market and liability risk? 3. What are reasonable combinations of annual contribution rates and asset allocation to a state-managed pension fund, which will limit costs of providing promised public sector pensions? We anticipate that this research will interest several sorts of policymaker groups. First, focusing on the German case, the state and Federal governments should find it relevant, as these entities face considerable public sector pension liabilities. Second, our findings will also be of interest to other European countries, as most have substantial underfunded defined benefit plans for civil servants. In what follows, we first offer a brief description of the structure of civil servant pensions in Germany, focusing on their benefit formulas, their financing, and the resulting current as well as future plan obligations for taxpayers. Next, we turn to an analysis of the actuarial status of the Hesse civil servants’ pension plan and evaluate how much would have to be contributed to fund this plan in a nonstochastic context. Subsequently we evaluate the asset-liability and decision-making process from the viewpoint of the plan sponsor, to determine sensible plan asset allocation behavior. A final section summarizes findings and implications.
We investigate the effect of overreaction in the fine art market. Using a unique sample of auction prices of modern prints, we define an overvalued (undervalued) print as a print that was bought for a price above (below) its high (low) auction pricing estimate. Based on the overreaction hypothesis, we predict that overvalued (undervalued) prints generate a negative (positive) excess return at a subsequent sale. Our empirical findings confirm our expectations. We report that prints that were bought for a price 10 percent above (below) its high (low) pricing estimate generate a positive (negative) excess return of 12 percent (17 percent) after controlling for the general price movement on the prints market. The price correction for overvalued (undervalued) prints is more pronounced during recessions (expansions).
The Wirecard scandal is a wake-up call alerting German politics to the importance of securities market integrity. The role of market supervision is to ensure the smooth functioning of capital markets and their integrity, creating trust among and acceptance by investors locally and globally. The existing patchwork of national supervisory practice in Europe is under discussion today, in the wake of Brexit that will end the role of London as a de-facto lead supervisor in stock and bond markets. A fundamental overhaul of a fragmented securities markets supervisory regime in Europe would offer the potential to lead to the establishment of an independent European Single Market Supervisor (ESMS). Endowed with strong enforcement powers, and supported by the existing national agencies, the ESMS would be entrusted with ensuring a uniform market standard as to transparency and other issues of market integrity across Europe. This would not rule out maintaining a variety of market organization structures at the national level. The ESMS would need executive powers in the world of markets (i.e. securities and trading), much like the SSM in the world of banking. To fill this new role, ESMS would have to be established as a new, independent institution, including an enormously scaled up staff if compared, e.g., to ESMA.
Die traditionelle Begründung der Bankenregulierung basiert auf der Vorstellung, daß regulatorische Vorschriften in erster Linie dem Schutz der Bankeinlagen und der Vermeidung von Bankkonkursen dienen. In Kapitel 2 wurde argumentiert, daß diese Begründung nicht den Kern des Regulierungsproblems trifft. Der einzige letztlich überzeugende Grund für die Regulierung der Eigenkapitalausstattung von Banken ist in Externalitäten zu sehen, die aus den derzeit praktizierten Einlagensicherungssystemen bzw. der impliziten Einlagensicherung durch den Staat resultieren. Diese Begründung für die Bankenregulierung führt dazu, daß die Aktiva der Bank ins Zentrum der Betrachtung rücken: Die Bankenregulierung muß danach dafür sorgen, daß die von Banken getroffenen Entscheidungen in bezug auf die Übernahme von Risiken in einem wohlfahrtstheoretisch effizienten Sinn getroffen werden. Wenn die Verminderung des Konkursrisikos die alleinige Zielgröße der Regulierung darstellen würde, müßte man schlußfolgern, daß ein einfaches Verbot riskanter Geschäftsaktivitäten die Erreichung des Regulierungsziels sicherstellt. Dies kann natürlich keine ernstzunehmende Option sein. Das Geschäft der Banken besteht in der Evaluierung und dem Management von Risiken. Die Regulierung muß dafür sorgen, daß Banken diese Funktion trotz bestehender Externalitäten in einer wohlfahrtstheoretisch effizienten Weise erfüllen. Um die Frage der Effizienz von Risikoentscheidungen in einem formalen Modellrahmen analysieren zu können, wurde in Kapitel 4.2.4 ein neuer Optionsbewertungsansatz für das Eigenkapital der Bank entwickelt. Dies war erforderlich, da sich die bisher in der Literatur verwendeten Ansätze nicht zur Beurteilung dieser Frage eignen. Im μ-σ-Rahmen kann zwar analysiert werden, ob die Bank ein effizientes Portfolio wählt. Der Modellansatz basiert aber auf der kritischen Annahme normalverteilter Renditen. Da die beschränkte Haftung der Eigenkapitalgeber aber eine untere Schranke der Eigenkapitalrendite bewirkt, ist diese Annahme zur Analyse der Risikowahl problematisch. Das in Kapitel 4.2.1 vorgestellte Optionsbewertungsmodell von Merton berücksichtigt zwar die beschränkte Haftung der Eigenkapitalgeber, eignet sich aber nicht zur Analyse der Effizienz der Risikowahl, weil die Wahl des Anlagerisikos irrelevant für die erreichbare Wohlfahrt ist. Als problemadäquater Modellrahmen wurde ein Modell mit risikoabhängiger Rendite von Bankanlagen entwickelt. Dieser Ansatz beruht auf der Idee, daß Banken in Spezialbereichen über superiore Informationen verfügen, die sie zur Erzielung von über den Kapitalkosten liegenden Renditen einsetzen können. Da die Bank aber nur über begrenzte Informationen verfügt, ist die Anzahl der verfügbaren Anlagen mit positivem Kapitalwert begrenzt und definiert so das effiziente Maß der Risikoübernahme. Die Analyse der Auswirkungen der Eigenkapitalregulierung zeigt, daß die risikoabhängige Eigenkapitalregulierung zwar der einfachen Verschuldungsgradregulierung überlegen ist, das Risikoanreizproblem der Banken aber nicht vollständig lösen kann. Sie stellt aber im Vergleich zu den anderen in dieser Arbeit diskutierten Regulierungsansätzen die robusteste Lösung des Problems dar. Nach weitverbreiteter Ansicht leisten Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Behebung des Risikoanreizproblems, weil eine Bank bei Erhöhung des Anlagerisikos den Verlust der Monopolrente (Charterwert ) im Konkurs befürchten muß. Es wurde aber gezeigt, daß diese Kraft nur für unplausibel hohe Monopolrenten stark genug ist, um die aus der Einlagensicherung resultierenden Anreize zu kompensieren. Auch der in Kapitel 4.5 analysierte Vorschlag von John, John und Senbet (1991) einer Nutzung des Steuersystems zur Korrektur des Risikoanreizproblems erweist sich bei näherer Analyse für praktische Regulierungszwecke als unbrauchbar, da hierfür ein marginaler Steuersatz auf die Investitionsrückflüsse in der Größenordnung von 90% notwendig ist. Schließlich erweist sich auch die in Kapitel 4.4 und 4.6.1 untersuchte Idee, durch Einsatz von sicheren Reserven den Effekt einer Erhöhung der Anlagerisiken zu kompensieren, als wenig sinnvoll. Der das Merton-Modell treibende Effekt einer Anlagersikoerhöhung kann durch diese Regulierungsform erfolgreich ausgeschaltet werden. An seine Stelle treten aber unerwünschte Nebeneffekte, die im Ergebnis nach wie vor zu einer nicht effizienten Risikowahl führen. Die Nebeneffekte können nur durch einen Verzicht auf eine Eigenkapitalunterlegung ausgeschaltet werden. Obwohl prinzipiell auch ohne Eigenkapitalunterlegung die Stabilität von Banken durch entsprechend hohe sichere Reservehaltung gewährleistet werden kann, ist eine solche Regulierung aufgrund des enormen Bedarfs an sicheren Reserveanlagen nicht praktikabel. Eine Regulierungsform, die theoretisch in der Lage ist, die wohlfahrtseffiziente Risi kowahl zu implementieren, ist ein Einlagensicherungssystem mit "fair" berechneter risikoabhängiger Prämienkalkulation. Ein solches Einlagensicherungssystem verhindert effektiv jegliche Externalitäten der Risikoentscheidung der Bank auf die Einlagensicherung und führt damit automatisch zur effizienten Wahl des Anlagerisikos. Angesichts dieses Ergebnisses überrascht die Tatsache, daß sich die Aufsichtsbehörden fast vollständig auf das Instrument der Eigenkapitalregulierung konzentrieren. In Kapitel 4.6.2.2 wurden argumentiert, daß die Gründe dafür in den politischen und praktischen Problemen der Umsetzung von risikoabhängigen Einlagensicherungsprämien liegen. Da die Einlagensicherungsprämie nur in diskreten Zeitabständen fällig wird, hat eine eigenkapitalschwache Bank nach wie vor einen starken Anreiz, nach Zahlung der Prämie ihr Anlagerisiko zu erhöhen. Daneben zeigen die Erfahrungen der Savings & Loan-Krise, daß die Einlagensicherung mit erheblichen Agency-Kosten verbunden ist, weil die Mitarbeiter der Einlagensicherungsbehörde dazu neigen, notwendige Liquidationen von Banken zu unterlassen oder hinauszuzögern. In Kapitel 5 wurde das Zusammenwirken von Einlagensicherung und Eigenkapitalregulierung untersucht. Dazu wurde ein Modell verwendet, in dem eine optimale Kapitalstruktur von Banken existiert, die sich aus einem Trade Off zwischen Finanzierungskostenvorteilen der Einlagenfinanzierung und Liquidationskosten im Insolvenzfall ergibt. Das Modell zeigt, daß die Kombination einer risikoabhängigen Eigenkapitalregulierung mit einer traditionellen volumenabhängigen Einlagensicherungsprämie zwar die effiziente Stabilität von Banken, nicht dagegen effiziente Anlageentscheidungen erreicht. Wenn alternativ eine traditionelle Verschuldungsgradregulierung mit einer risikoabhängigen Einlagensicherungsprämie kombiniert wird, resultieren effiziente Anlageentscheidungen, die Bank operiert jedoch nicht im Kapitalkostenminimum. Erst die Kombination von risikoabhängiger Eigenkapitalregulierung und risikoabhängiger Einlagensicherungsprämie führt dazu, daß das insgesamt wohlfahrtsoptimale Marktergebnis implementiert wird. Die risikoabhängige Kapitalregulierung steht danach in einem komplementären Verhältnis zum risikoabhängigen Einlagensicherungssystem. Entgegen der teilweise geäußerten Warnung vor einer "doppelten" Bestrafung der Risikoübernahme durch Eigenkapitalregulierung und Einlagensicherung führt allein die Risikoabhängigkeit bei der Regulierungen zu effizienten Marktergebnissen. In Kapitel 6 wurde argumentiert, daß auch die Berücksichtigung der Interessendivergenz zwischen Kapitalgebern und Managern nichts an der Beurteilung der risikoabhängigen Eigenkapitalregulierung ändert. Die Eigeninteressen von Managern können zwar zu einer Abweichung der tatsächlich verfolgten Risikopolitik von der durch die Eigenkapitalgeber bevorzugten Risikopolitik führen. Allerdings können die Eigeninteressen des Managements in nicht prognostizierbarer Weise sowohl risikoerhöhende als auch risikosenkende Wirkung haben. Aus Sicht der Aufsichtsbehörden erscheint daher die Orientierung an Modellen sinnyoll, die ein marktwertmaximierendes Verhalten der Bank unterstellen. Schließlich zeigt die Analyse der Wechselwirkungen von Eigenkapitalregulierung und den Arbeitsanreizen des Managements, daß die risikobasierte Eigenkapitalregulierung auch im Hinblick auf diesen Agency-Konflikt positive Wirkungen entfaltet. Wenn die Drohung des Konkurses ein Motivationsinstrument für Manager darstellt. dann ist es aus Sicht der Kapitalgeber unter plausiblen Annahmen sinnvoll, auch im Hinblick auf die Auswirkung auf die Anreizsituation des Managements bei hohen Anlagerisiken eine höhere Eigenkapitalquote zu wählen. Die risikoabhängige Eigenkapitalregulierung kann allerdings den Agency-Konflikt auch verstärken, wenn die Aufsichtsbehörde ein zu hohes Konfidenzniveau vorgibt. Dann versagt die Anreizwirkung der Konkursdrohung, weil Konkurse auch bei "Fehlverhalten" des Managements so unwahrscheinlich sind, daß die Konkursdrohung keinen Einfluß auf das Verhalten von Managern hat. Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, daß die risikoabhängige Eigenkapitalregulierung von Banken nicht nur die Sorgen der Aufsichtsbehörden verringert, sondern auch auf einem soliden theoretischen Fundament steht. Sie stellt die notwendige Antwort auf die durch die Einlagensicherung generierten Fehlanreize zur Übernahme exzessiver Risiken dar und leistet damit einen wichtigen Beitrag für die Funktionsfähigkeit der Kapitalmärkte. Gleichzeitig zeigt die Analyse aber auch, daß überzogenes Stabilitätsdenken der Aufsichtsbehörden nicht angebracht ist. Gerade im Fall von Banken verfügen Manager über ausgesprochen große Verhaltensspielräume und Eigenkapitalgeber über wenige Instrumente, um eine Geschäftspolitik im Sinne der Kapitalgeber durchzusetzen. Die Konkursdrohung stellt in dieser Situation ein wichtiges Instrument zur Durchsetzung des Interessengleichlaufs zwischen Management und Kapitalgebern dar. Die Bankenregulierung darf daher die Konkurswahrscheinlichkeit von Banken nicht so stark senken, daß die Drohung des Konkurses seine positive Anreizwirkung verliert.
Experiments are an important tool in economic research. However, it is unclear to which extent the control of experiments extends to the perceptions subjects form of such experimental decision situations. This paper is the first to explicitly elicit perceptions of the dictator and trust game and shows that there is substantial heterogeneity in how subjects perceive the same game. Moreover, game perceptions depend not only on the game itself but also on the order of games (i.e., the broader experimental context in which the game is embedded) and the subject herself. This highlights that the control of experiments does not necessarily extend to game perceptions. The paper also demonstrates that perceptions are correlated with game behavior and moderate the relationship between game behavior and field behavior, thereby underscoring the importance and relevance of game perceptions for economic research.
In light of the failed negotiations with Greece, Jan Krahnen argues that an effective reform agenda for Greece can only be designed by the elected government. Fundamental reforms will take time to take full effect and euro area member states will, in the meantime, have to offer Greece a basic level of economic security.
Krahnen demands that policy makers and the professional public involved view the Greek crisis as an opportunity to take the next necessary steps to formulate a reform agenda for the European Monetary Union. A community of supranational and non-party researchers and intellectuals could take the initiative and in a structured process develop a trustworthy and realistic concept that drafts the next big step towards a political union of Europe, including elements of a fiscal union.
This paper examines heterogeneity in time discounting among a representative sample of elderly Americans, as well as its role in explaining key economic behaviors at older ages. We show how older Americans evaluate simple (hypothetical) inter-temporal choices in which payments today are compared with payments in the future. Using the indicators derived from this measure, we then demonstrate that differences in discounting patterns are associated with characteristics of particular importance in elderly populations. For example, cognitive deficits are associated with greater impatience, whereas bequest motives are associated with less impatience. We then relate our discounting measure to key economic outcomes and find that impatience is associated with lower wealth, fewer investments in health, and less planning for end of life care.
Households regularly fail to make optimal financial decisions. But what are the underlying reasons for this? Using two conceptually distinct measures of time inconsistency based on bank account transaction data and behavioral measurement experiments, we show that the excessive use of bank account overdrafts is linked to time inconsistency. By contrast, there is no correlation between a survey-based measure of financial literacy and overdraft usage. Our results indicate that consumer education and information may not suffice to overcome mistakes in households’ financial decision-making. Rather, behaviorally motivated interventions targeting specific biases in decision-making should also be considered as effective policy tools.
We study whether and how time preferences change over the life cycle, exploiting representative long-term panel data. We estimate the age patterns of discount rates from age 25 to 80. In order to identify age effects, we have to disentangle them from cohort and period factors. We address this identification problem by estimating individual fixed effects models, where we substitute period effects with determinants of time preferences that depend on calendar years. We find that discount rates decrease with age and the decline is remarkably linear over the life cycle.
Discussions about the banking union have restarted. Its success so far is limited: national banking sectors are still overwhelmingly exposed to their own countries’ economies, cross border banking has not increased and capital and liquidity remain locked within national boundaries. The policy letter highlights that the current debate, centered on sovereign exposures and deposit insurance, misses critical underlying problems in the supervision and resolution frameworks. The ECB supervisors’ efforts to facilitate cross-border banking have been hampered by national ringfencing. The resolution framework is not up to its task: limited powers of the SRB, prohibitive access conditions and limited size of the Single Resolution Fund limit its effectiveness. A lack of a coherent European framework for insolvency unlevels the regulatory field and creates incentives to bypass European rules. The new Commission and European Parliament, with the new ECB leadership, provide a unique opportunity to address these shortcomings and make the banking union work.
Analysing causality among oil prices and, in general, among financial and economic variables is of central relevance in applied economics studies. The recent contribution of Lu et al. (2014) proposes a novel test for causality— the DCC-MGARCH Hong test. We show that the critical values of the test statistic must be evaluated through simulations, thereby challenging the evidence in papers adopting the DCC-MGARCH Hong test. We also note that rolling Hong tests represent a more viable solution in the presence of short-lived causality periods.
We use a unique data set from the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE) to study liquidity effects in the US structured product market. Our main contribution is the analysis of the relation between the accuracy in measuring liquidity and the potential degree of disclosure. Having access to all relevant trading information, we provide evidence that transaction cost measures that use dealer specific information such as trader identity and trade direction can be efficiently proxied by measures that use less detailed information. This finding is important for all market participants in the context of OTC markets, as it fosters our understanding of the information contained in transaction data. Thus, our results provide guidance for improving transparency while maintaining trader confidentiality. In addition, we analyze liquidity in the structured product market in general and show that securities that are mainly institutionally traded, guaranteed by a federal authority, or have low credit risk, tend to be more liquid.
This paper analyzes the bail-in tool under the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) and predicts that it will not reach its policy objective. To make this argument, this paper first describes the policy rationale that calls for mandatory private sector involvement (PSI). From this analysis, the key features for an effective bail-in tool can be derived.
These insights serve as the background to make the case that the European resolution framework is likely ineffective in establishing adequate market discipline through risk-reflecting prices for bank capital. The main reason for this lies in the avoidable embeddedness of the BRRD’s bail-in tool in the much broader resolution process, which entails ample discretion of the authorities also in forcing private sector involvement. Moreover, the idea that nearly all positions on the liability side of a bank’s balance sheet should be subjected to bail-in is misguided. Instead, a concentration of PSI in instruments that fall under the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) is preferable.
Finally, this paper synthesized the prior analysis by putting forward an alternative regulatory approach that seeks to disentangle private sector involvement as a precondition for effective bank-resolution as much as possible form the resolution process as such.
This paper analyses the bail-in tool under the BRRD and predicts that it will not reach its policy objective. To make this argument, this paper first describes the policy rationale that calls for mandatory PSI. From this analysis the key features for an effective bail-in tool can be derived. These insights serve as the background to make the case that the European resolution framework is likely ineffective in establishing adequate market discipline through risk-reflecting prices for bank capital. The main reason for this lies in the avoidable embeddedness of the BRRD’s bail-in tool in the much broader resolution process which entails ample discretion of the authorities also in forcing private sector involvement. Finally, this paper synthesized the prior analysis by putting forward an alternative regulatory approach that seeks to disentangle private sector involvement as a precondition for effective bank-resolution as much as possible form the resolution process as such.
The banking system is highly interconnected and these connections can be conveniently represented as an interbank network. This survey presents a systematic overview of the recent advances in the theoretical literature on interbank networks. We assess our current understanding of the structure of interbank networks, of how network characteristics affect contagion in the banking system and of how banks form connections when faced with the possibility of contagion and systemic risk. In particular, we highlight how the theoretical literature on interbank networks offers a coherent way of studying interconnections, contagion processes and systemic risk, while emphasizing at the same time the challenges that must be addressed before general results on the link between the structure of the interbank network and financial stability can be established. The survey concludes with a discussion of the policy relevance of interbank network models with a special focus on macroprudential policies and monetary policy.
A premise of the capabilities perspective in strategy is that firm-specific capabilities allow some firms to be unusually adept at exploiting growth opportunities. Since few firms have the capacity to internally generate the quantity or variety of strategic resources needed to exploit growth opportunities, the ability to externally acquire complementary resources is critical to the acquisition of competitive advantage. However, the external sourcing of resources exposes the firm’s strategic resources to risks of expropriation. We argue this threat gives capable firms incentive to use internally generated strategic resources to pursue growth opportunities before turning to external sources. A pecking order theory of strategic resource deployment is implied. Data from a 22-year sample of cross-border investment partnership decisions made by U.S.-based venture capital firms lend support to our theory.
Armstrong et al. (2022) review the empirical methods used in the accounting literature to draw causal inferences. They document a growing number of studies using quasi-experimental methods and provide a critical perspective on this trend as well as the use of these methods in the accounting literature. In this discussion, I complement their review by broadening the perspective. I argue for a design-based approach to accounting research that shifts attention from methods to the entire research design. I also discuss why studies that aim to draw causal inferences are important, how these studies fit into the scientific process, and why assessing the strength of the research design is important when evaluating studies and aggregating research findings.
There is a large, but yet growing debate about the need to complement the European monetary union with a stronger fiscal union. This paper reviews the potential trade-offs between effectiveness, moral hazard problems, and permanent redistribution. In particular, we contribute to the question of how member states may be willing to enter into a stronger fiscal union if the evolution of this union may imply large redistribution under incomplete contracting. We discuss clawback mechanisms that have been suggested in the literature, but conclude that clawbacks are undesirable, as they would essentially destroy the insurance value of a fiscal union. Instead, we propose that a clearly defined exit option as a guarantee against involuntary redistribution can make entry into a stronger fiscal union less risky and hence more attractive for member states.
Although the world of banking and finance is becoming more integrated every day, in most aspects the world of financial regulation continues to be narrowly defined by national boundaries. The main players here are still national governments and governmental agencies. And until recently, they tended to follow a policy of shielding their activities from scrutiny by their peers and members of the academic community rather than inviting critical assessments and an exchange of ideas. The turbulence in international financial markets in the 1980s, and its impact on U.S. banks, gave rise to the notion that academics working in the field of banking and financial regulation might be in a position to make a contribution to the improvement of regulation in the United States, and thus ultimately to the stability of the entire financial sector. This provided the impetus for the creation of the “U.S. Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee”. In the meantime, similar shadow committees have been founded in Europe and Japan. The specific problems associated with financial regulation in Europe, as well as the specific features which distinguish the European Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee from its counterparts in the U.S. and Japan, derive from the fact that while Europe has already made substantial progress towards economic and political integration, it is still primarily a collection of distinct nation-states with differing institutional set-ups and political and economic traditions. Therefore, any attempt to work towards a European approach to financial regulation must include an effort to promote the development of a European culture of co-operation in this area, and this is precisely what the European Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (ESFRC) seeks to do. In this paper, Harald Benink, chairman of the ESFRC, and Reinhard H. Schmidt, one of the two German members, discuss the origin, the objectives and the functioning of the committee and the thrust of its recommendations.
Tractable hedging - an implementation of robust hedging strategies : [This Version: March 30, 2004]
(2004)
This paper provides a theoretical and numerical analysis of robust hedging strategies in diffusion–type models including stochastic volatility models. A robust hedging strategy avoids any losses as long as the realised volatility stays within a given interval. We focus on the effects of restricting the set of admissible strategies to tractable strategies which are defined as the sum over Gaussian strategies. Although a trivial Gaussian hedge is either not robust or prohibitively expensive, this is not the case for the cheapest tractable robust hedge which consists of two Gaussian hedges for one long and one short position in convex claims which have to be chosen optimally.
Using a unique data set on trade credit defaults among French firms, we investigate whether and how trade credit is used to relax financial constraints. We show that firms that face idiosyncratic liquidity shocks are more likely to default on trade credit, especially when the shocks are unexpected, firms have little liquidity, are likely to be credit constrained or are close to their debt capacity. We estimate that credit constrained firms pass more than one fourth of the liquidity shocks they face on to their suppliers down the trade credit chain. The evidence is consistent with the idea that firms provide liquidity insurance to each other and that this mechanism is able to alleviate the consequences of credit constraints. In addition, we show that the chain of defaults stops when it reaches firms that are large, liquid, and have access to financial markets. This suggests that liquidity is allocated from large firms with access to outside finance to small, credit constrained firms through trade credit chains.
We propose a novel approach to the study of international trade based on a theory of country integration that embodies a broad systemic viewpoint on the relationship between trade and growth. Our model leads to an indicator of country openness that measures a country's level of integration through the full architecture of its connections in the trade network. We apply our methodology to a sample of 204 countries and find a sizable and significant positive relationship between our integration measure and a country's growth rate, while that of the traditional measures of outward orientation is only minor and statistically insignificant.
The recent success of some alternative trading systems (ATSs) has had a strong impact on the traditional stock exchange industry and many observers expect even more dramatic changes in the future. This paper investigates the nature of competition between stock exchanges and ATSs and argues that the introduction of ATSs weakens the level of competition between market-makers in the traditional exchange...
On November 8, 2013, several members of the British House of Lords’ Subcommittee A conducted a hearing at the ECB in Frankfurt, Germany, on “Genuine Economic and Monetary Union and its Implications for the UK”. Professors Otmar Issing and Jan Pieter Krahnen were called as expert witnesses.
The testimony began with a general discussion on the elements considered necessary for a functioning internal market. Do economic union and monetary union require a fiscal union or even a political union, beyond the elements of the banking union currently being prepared? In this context, also the critique of the German current account surplus and the international expectations that Germany stimulate internal demand to support growth in crisis countries, were discussed.
With regard to the monetary union, the members of the subcommittee asked for an assessment of how European nations and the banking industry would have fared in the banking crisis that followed the Lehman collapse, had there not been a common currency. Given the important role that the ECB has played in the course of the crisis management, the members further asked for an evaluation of the OMT-program of the ECB and also if the monetary union is in need of common debt instruments, in order to provide the ECB with the possibility of buying EU liabilities, comparable to the Fed buying US Treasury bonds. Finally, the dual role of the ECB for monetary policy and banking supervision was an issue touched on by several questions.
Climate change has become one of the most prominent concerns globally. In this paper, the authors study the transition risk of greenhouse gas emission reduction in structural environmental-macroeconomic DSGE models. First, they analyze the uncertainty in model prediction on the effect of unanticipated and pre-announced carbon price increases. Second, they conduct optimal model-robust policy in different settings. They find that reducing emissions by 40% causes 0.7% to 4% output loss with 2% on average. Pre-announcement of carbon prices affects the inflation dynamics significantly. The central bank should react slightly less to inflation and output growth during the transition risk. With optimal carbon price designs, it should react even less to inflation, and more to output growth.
Telemonitoring devices can be used to screen consumers' characteristics and mitigate information asymmetries that lead to adverse selection in insurance markets. However, some consumers value their privacy and dislike sharing private information with insurers. In the second-best efficient Wilson-Miyazaki-Spence framework, we allow for consumers to reveal their risk type for an individual subjective cost and show analytically how this affects insurance market equilibria as well as utilitarian social welfare. Our analysis shows that the choice of information disclosure with respect to revelation of their risk type can substitute deductibles for consumers whose transparency aversion is sufficiently low. This can lead to a Pareto improvement of social welfare and a Pareto efficient market allocation. However, if all consumers are offered cross-subsidizing contracts, the introduction of a transparency contract decreases or even eliminates cross-subsidies. Given the prior existence of a WMS equilibrium, utility is shifted from individuals who do not reveal their private information to those who choose to reveal. Our analysis provides a theoretical foundation for the discussion on consumer protection in the context of digitalization. It shows that new technologies bring new ways to challenge crosssubsidization in insurance markets and stresses the negative externalities that digitalization has on consumers who are not willing to take part in this development.
The paper looks at the determinants of fiscal adjustments as reflected in the primary surplus of countries. Our conjecture is that governments will usually find it more attractive to pursue fiscal adjustments in a situation of relatively high growth, but based on a simple stylized model of government behavior the expectation is that mainly high trust governments will be in a position to defer consolidation to years with higher growth. Overall, our analysis of a panel of European countries provides support for this expectation. The difference in fiscal policies depending on government trust levels may help explaining why better governed countries have been found to have less severe business cycles. It suggests that trust and credibility play an important role not only in monetary policy, but also in fiscal policy.
We analyze efficient risk-sharing arrangements when the value from deviating is determined endogenously by another risk sharing arrangement. Coalitions form to insure against idiosyncratic income risk. Self-enforcing contracts for both the original coalition and any coalition formed (joined) after deviations rely on a belief in future cooperation which we term "trust". We treat the contracting conditions of original and deviation coalitions symmetrically and show that higher trust tightens incentive constraints since it facilitates the formation of deviating coalitions. As a consequence, although trust facilitates the initial formation of coalitions, the extent of risk sharing in successfully formed coalitions is declining in the extent of trust and efficient allocations might feature resource burning or utility burning: trust is indeed a double-edged sword.