A popular interpretation of the Rational Expectations/Efficient Markets hypothesis states that, if it holds, market valuations must follow a random walk; hence, the hypothesis is frequently criticized on the basis of empirical evidence against such a prediction. Yet this reasoning incurs what we...

Disequilibrating macro shocks affect different firms' prospects differently, increasing idiosyncratic variation in forward-looking stock returns before affecting economic growth. Consistent with most such shocks from 1947 to 2020 enhancing productivity, increased idiosyncratic stock return...

Today we live in a post-truth and highly digitalized era characterized by a flow of (mis-) information around the world. Identifying the impact of this information on stock markets and forecasting stock returns and volatilities has become a much more difficult task, perhaps almost impossible....

We examine the state-dependent volatility reaction to macroeconomic news in the euro-dollar, pound-dollar and yen-dollar markets between 2005 and 2009. Unlike the traditional event studies that define economic states based on exogenously determined thresholds, we employ the smooth transition...

The 1994-95 'peso' crisis did not display characteristics which allow it to be easily captured by traditional crisis models. Models based on Minsky's financial fragility hypothesis offer more persuasive accounts but have been supported by relatively little direct empirical evidence. This paper...