This paper investigates how media coverage in°uences macroeconomic informationprocessing at the bond market. I provide evidence that a high media coverage of aneconomic topic increases investor attention prior to the release of the corresponding economic indicator: High media coverage of the...

This paper proposes a model that links households and firms, as usual, by markets forfactors and goods and, additionally, by a banking sector that channels households’funds to firms and eliminates idiosyncratic risk. In equilibrium, agency costs and taxbenefits of corporate debt are equalizing...

We use portfolio theory to quantify the efficiency of state-level sectoral patterns of production in the United States. On the basis of observed growth in sectoral value-added output, we calculate for each state the efficient frontier for investments in the real economy. We study how rapidly...

We develop a stylized model of economic growth with bubbles. In this model, financial frictions leadto equilibrium dispersion in the rates of return to investment. During bubbly episodes, unproductiveinvestors demand bubbles while productive investors supply them. Because of this, bubbly...

It is frequently noted that investment funds with a nonnormal return distributioncannot be adequately evaluated using the classic Sharpe ratio. However, recent research compared the Sharpe ratio with other performance measures and found virtually identical rank ordering using hedge fund data. We...

Annuity contracts transfer the risk of an individual outliving available assets to aninsurance company. Thus, the insurance company has to value and manage longterm risks. Interest rate risk and longevity risk are the two most important risks forannuity providers. In this paper, we develop a...

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a nonparametric method from the area of operationsresearch that measures the relationship of produced outputs to assignedinputs and determines an efficiency score. This efficiency score can be interpretedas a performance measure in investment analysis. Recent...

As early as the 1970s, European Union (EU) member countries implemented rulesto coordinate insurance markets and regulation. However, with the more recentmovement toward a general single EU market, financial services regulation hastaken on new meaning and priority. Solvency I regulations went...

Die aktuellen EU-Solvabilitätsvorschriften sind seit ihrer Einführung in den Jahren1973 (Nichtlebensversicherungen) und 1979 (Lebensversicherungsunternehmen)Gegenstand massiver Kritik.1 Ein zentraler Kritikpunkt resultiert aus derTatsache, dass sich die EU-Solvabilitätsregeln lediglich am...

Newly introduced Government-subsidized pension products in Germany are requiredto contain a promise by the seller to provide a “money-back guarantee” atthe end of the term. The client is also given the right to stop paying premiums atany time (paid-up option). In this case, the amount of all...