We show that including distribution costs into a general equilibrium model of international portfolio choice contributes to explaining the "home bias" in international equity investment. Our model is able to replicate observed investment positions for a wide range of parameter values, even if...

This contribution starts out by noting a conflict of interest between consumers and insurers. Consumers face positive correlation in their assets (health, wealth, wisdom, i.e. skills), causing them to demand a great deal of insurance coverage. Insurers on the other hand eschew positively...

This paper presents a rational expectations model of asset prices with rationally inattentive investors that, unlike previous papers, explains both the substantial amount of equity wealth invested domestically and the puzzling time series behavior of the home bias - an initial plateau before...

This paper analyzes the relation between correlation risk and the cross-section of hedge fund returns.Legal framework and investment mandate imply that hedge funds can be severely exposed tocorrelation risk: Hedge funds ability to enter long-short positions can be useful to reduce marketbeta,...

In this paper, we consider an investor who plays in a market that involves a risky asset whose instantaneous rate of return changes at unknown random times. This return rate is assumed to follow the law of a Compound Poisson Process. We construct optimal mathematical strategies in this context...

Since the demise of apartheid in South Africa, corporations have been encouraged to participate in the governmental goal of increasing corporate ownership by the black majority population. One vehicle that has arisen to help facilitate an increase in corporate ownership has been black economic...

I examine whether or not returns on stock markets are a leading indicator for real macroeconomic developments in Austria, Japan and the USA. Further I deal with the concept of stock market efficiency, the question whether or not information from real and financial sectors of the economy is...

This paper surveys the literature on the linkages between asset prices and macroeconomic outcomes. It focuses on three major questions. First, what are the basic theoretical linkages between asset prices and macroeconomic outcomes? Second, what is the empirical evidence supporting these...

This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on the macroeconomic implications of financial imperfections. It focuses on two major channels through which financial imperfections can affect macroeconomic outcomes. The first channel, which operates through the demand side of finance...

This paper analyzes alternative models for emerging sovereign ratings. Although a small number of economic fundamentals explain ratings reasonably well, variations in those economic fundamentals are themselves explained by a small number of world factors. On the other hand, global financial...