Asset prices have been found to respond to unpredicted changes in macroeconomic variables in a number of studies. This paper focuses on the relationship between economic factors and the stock market for a small open economy, namely Canada. Exchange risk is observed to have a significant impact...

The recent global financial crisis demonstrates that market liquidity is a prominent systematic risk globally. We find that local liquidity risk, in addition to the local market, value and size factors, demands a systematic premium across stocks in 11 developed markets. This local pricing...

The market value of corporate stock in the United States increased by nearly one trillion dollars between December 1994 and July 1995. This paper explores the distribution of the stock ownership, and hence the gains from the stock price rise, and what the rise in stock prices implies for...

This paper uses a multi-asset framework to investigate the ramifications of transaction costs on international portfolio allocations. I employ numerical simulation techniques to study the evolution of an international portfolio and the behavior of net equity purchases, and compare the model's...

This paper models the value of "embedded" options in foreign bonds, using stochastic calculus, by assuming that the exchange rate follows a geometric Brownian motion process and the arrival time of an early redemption of the bond by the issuer conforms to a negative exponential distribution. The...

To obtain the maximum benefit from diversification, financial theory suggests that investors should invest internationally because of the larger potential for risk reduction stemming from the lowe correlation existing between assets of different countries. The question that we raise in this...

The driving force behind the well-documented medium term momentum effect in stock returns is subject of much debate. Empirical papers that aim to find the determinants of this return continuation, seem to be almost exclusively restricted to US stock markets. Consequently, regional effects have...

Austria’s special role as one of the leading investors in Eastern and Southeastern European growth markets increasingly raises questions on the risk capacity of Austria’s foreign portfolio. Using selected macroeconomic indicators, this article assesses the economic country risk attached to...

Over the period 1975 to 2005, the US dollar (particularly in relation to the Canadian dollar) and the euro and Swiss franc (particularly in the second half of the period) have moved against world equity markets. Thus these currencies should be attractive to risk-minimizing global equity...