We investigate monthly bilateral exchange rate volatility for a large sample of currency pairs over the period 1999-2006. Pegs (particularly to the US dollar) and managed floats tend to have lower volatility than independent floats. A deeper investigation shows that the peg effect operates...

A new and easily implemented regression method is proposed for distinguishing floating from pegged regimes, whilst simultaneously identifying anchors of pegged currencies. The method can distinguish pegs with occasional devaluations from floats, and can be used to generate annual regime...

Several de facto exchange rate regime classifications have been widely used in empirical research, but they are known to disagree with one another to a disturbing extent. We dissect the algorithms employed and argue that they can be significantly improved. We implement the improvements, and show...

It is shown that, with fixed transaction costs in the market for risky assets, investors with wealth below a certain threshold will hold pooled index funds that charge a proportional fee, rather than the market portfolio chosen by wealthier investors. If a portfolio of closed-end index funds...

As some emerging market economies have amassed large quantities of foreign exchange reserves, concern has arisen over the sterilisation of the domestic money stock from these flows. Existing studies focus mostly on narrow (reserve) money, and estimate a high degree of sterilisation. Empirical...

In this paper, we modify the Huang and Stoll (1997) spread-decomposing model to fit multi-dealer markets. In a multi-dealer market, individual dealers can rebalance their inventories either by trading with other dealers or changing the quote price. Our modified model captures this feature. Using...

We hypothesise that, given the typically uneven distribution of ethnic groups within a country, ethnic diversity leads to greater local polarization and more frequent, but smaller, conflicts that involve only some ethnic groups. These conflicts can be overlooked if the number of fatalities is...

The CAPM can explain closed-end fund (CEF) discounts as a consequence of the higher betas on CEF shares than on their underlying portfolios. The difference in betas is much greater for international funds and for bond funds than for domestic equity funds. CEF shares carry both more idiosyncratic...

Fundamentals may determine the range of real exchange rate fluctuation, through signals of misalignment, even if they are not a major influence on the level within that range. This can explain the puzzle that more open economies experience lower real exchange rate volatility. Adjustment of...

This paper considers the currency composition of sovereign debt in the context of risk-sharing through excusable defaults. It is shown that monetary credibility is not a sufficient condition for borrowing in domestic currency. With real exchange rate risk, debt denominated in a borrowing...