Search results for "Interest rate"
showing 10 items of 139 documents
Monetary Policy and the Exchange Rate During the Asian Crisis: Identification Through Heteroscedasticity
2003
This paper examines whether a monetary policy tightening (i.e., an increase in the domestic interest rate) was successful in defending the exchange rate from speculative pressures during the Asian financial crisis. We estimate a bivariate VECM for four Asian countries, and improve upon existing studies in two important ways. First, by using a long data span we are able to compare the effects of an interest rate rise on the nominal exchange rate during tranquil and turbulent periods. Second, we take into account the endogeneity of interest rates and identify the system by exploiting the heteroscedasticity properties of the relevant time series, following Rigobon (2002). We find that while ti…
Interest Rates and Net Interest Margins: The Impact of Monetary Policy
2017
In this chapter, we examine the determinants of bank net interest margin, focusing on the effect of interest rates, and thus monetary policy decisions. The analysis is carried with a panel of banks from 32 OECD countries over the period 2003–2014. The results show a quadratic relationship between net interest margins and interest rates, implying that the variation of the latter has a greater effect when interest rates are low. An important policy implication of the results is that there is a trade-off between economic growth and financial stability associated with the impact of expansionary monetary policy when the level of interest rates is very low. As a result, if the current scenario of…
Robust Recovery Risk Hedging: Only the First Moment Matters
2009
Credit derivatives are subject to at least two sources of risk: the default time and the recovery payment. This paper examines the impact of modeling the recovery payment on hedging strategies in a reduced-form model as well as a structural model. We show that all hedging approaches based on a quadratic criterion do only depend on the expected recovery payment at default and not the whole shape of the recovery payment distribution if the underlying hedging instrument (say, a defaultable zero coupon bond) jumps to or reaches a pre-specified value when the credit event occurs. This justifies assuming a \emph{certain} recovery rate conditional on default time and interest rate level. Hence, th…
The main reforms of the Spanish financial system
2012
This chapter aims to explore how the main legislation affecting the Spanish financial system evolved over the course of the 20th century. In terms of legislative developments, four main periods can be distinguished: the period from the early legislation in 1856 up until 1920; from 1920 through to the Civil War in 1936; Francoism from 1939 to 1975; and, finally, the phase of deregulation between 1975 and 2000. After a short introduction, we will examine below the first three of these four phases in chronological order.
New Evidence of the Real Interest Rate Parity for OECD Countries Using Panel Unit Root Tests with Breaks
2006
This paper tests for real interest parity (RIRP) among the nineteen major OECD countries over the period 1978:Q2-1998:Q4. The econometric methods applied consist of combining the use of several unit root or stationarity tests designed for panels valid under cross-section dependence and presence of multiple structural breaks. Our results strongly support the fulfillment of the weak version of the RIRP for the studied period once dependence and structural breaks are accounted for.
The social costs of bank market power: Evidence from Mexico
2008
This paper estimates the social costs of market power (Harberger's triangle) in the Mexican banking system over the period 1993–2005. It also tests the so-called “quiet life” hypothesis which postulates a negative effect of market power on bank management efficiency. The social cost attributable to market power in 2005 is 0.15% of GDP, while that deriving from the cost (profit) inefficiency of banking management is 0.021% (0.075%) of GDP. The results allow us to reject the quiet life hypothesis in the deposits market. However, market power in the setting of the interest rate on loans has a negative effect on cost efficiency. Journal of Comparative Economics 36 (3) (2008) 467–488.
The Challenges Faced by Life Insurance Companies in the Baltic States
2020
The Baltic life insurance market is a young steadily growing market. It began its development in the early 1990s when all three Baltic States, specifically Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have regained their independence. The Baltic life insurance market is limited due to a relatively small size with approximately six million inhabitants in all three countries. Additionally, the operations have deteriorated due to the low interest rates and the negative fluctuations in the financial market. The lessons learnt by the life insurers in the Baltic States are useful to other small countries in the European Union (EU) as well as to the larger States, to help bring to light the challenges of those …
Interest Rate Sensitivity of Spanish Industries: A Quantile Regression Approach
2015
This paper examines the degree of interest rate exposure of Spanish industries for the period 1993–2012 using the quantile regression methodology. The empirical results show that the Spanish stock market exhibits a significant level of interest rate sensitivity, although there are notable differences across industries and over time. In addition, the impact of changes in interest rates on industry equity returns tends to be more pronounced in extreme market conditions, i.e. during crises or bubbles in stock markets, than in normal periods. This finding may be related to herding behavior of stock investors during periods of market stress.
Interest rate changes and stock returns: A European multi-country study with wavelets
2016
Abstract This paper investigates the linkage between changes in 10-year government bond yields and stock returns for the major European countries in the time-frequency domain by using a number of cross-wavelet tools in the framework of the continuous wavelet transform, mainly the wavelet coherence and phase-difference. The results reveal that the degree of connection between 10-year bond rate movements and stock returns differs considerably among countries and also varies over time and depending on the time horizon considered. In particular, the UK shows the greatest interdependence between long-term interest rates and equity returns across time and frequencies, while the relationship is mu…
Does Shariah compliance make interest rate sensitivity of Islamic equities lower? An industry level analysis under different market states
2018
This paper examines the sensitivity of the Dow Jones Islamic market index and its corresponding industry equity indices to changes in the level, slope and curvature of the U.S. term structure of in...