Credit risk is influenced by interest rates and market liquidity. This paper examines the direct and indirect impacts of unexpected monetary policy shifts on the growth of corporate credit risk, with the aim of quantifying the size and direction of the response. The results surprisingly indicate...

Bond issuers frequently immunize/hedge their interest rate exposure by means of interest rate swaps (IRS). The receiving leg matches all bond cash-flows, while the pay leg requires floating rate coupon payments of form LIBOR + a spread. The goal of hedging against interest rate risk is only...

The study investigates the role of credit risk in a continuous time stochastic asset allocation model, since the traditional dynamic framework does not provide credit risk flexibility. The general model of the study extends the traditional dynamic efficiency framework by explicitly deriving the...

In this paper we propose a methodology that we believe improves the effectiveness of several common assumptions underlying Modern Portfolio Theory's dynamic optimization framework. The paper derives a general outline of a stochastic nonlinear-quadratic control for analyzing and solving a...

The recent global economic downturn in a number of economies was preceded by rising credit market risk brought on by a massive financial market failure. This paper develops a small open economy model that analyzes the interaction of business cycle volatilities with capital accumulation and the...

In this paper, we extend the debate concerning Credit Default Swap valuation to include time varying correlation and co-variances. Traditional multi-variate techniques treat the correlations between covariates as constant over time; however, this view is not supported by the data. Secondly, since...

In this essay, we intend to measure the contribution of different factors within the educational system that affect the quality of education. The purpose is to compare, in a completely dispassionate way, the academic achievements of public and private schools (mainly at the secondary level) in...

The standard economic model of crime focuses on the goal of deterrence, but actual punishment schemes, most notably recent three-strikes laws, seem to rely more on imprisonment than is prescribed by that model. One explanation is that prison also serves an incapacitation function. The current...

The effects of race on the probability of former Major League Baseball players becoming managers are analyzed using probit models with sample selection correction. The models are estimated using data on the performance and personal characteristics of players from 1955 to 2007. It is shown that...

The typical conclusion reached when researchers examine exchange rate exposure using a linear model is that only a few firms are exposed. This finding is puzzling since institutional knowledge and basic finance theory points to a larger effect. In this paper, we compare results obtained using a...