We show how the most likely deformation can be assigned to a yield curve, consistent with subjetive views on a handful of key rates. We provide an inutive explanation for the solution, which is perhaps not what one might at first blush have expected. We draw analogies from physics that...

The literature has not settled down on safe haven property of gold in emerging and developing countries. Therefore, in this study, we revisit the international evidence on hedging and safe haven role of gold for 34 emerging and developing countries with a span of daily data covering January 2000...

This paper studies external sovereign bonds as an asset class. We compile a new database of 220,000 monthly prices of foreign-currency government bonds traded in London and New York between 1815 (the Battle of Waterloo) and 2016, covering 91 countries. Our main insight is that, as in equity...

This paper empirically assesses the effect of a newly-compiled set of finance ministers´ characteristics on the setting by rating agencies of the long-term sovereign rating notations. Using a sample of 26 EU countries between 1980-2012, we find that the existence of more focused...

In this paper, we examine the determinants of leverage in the context of China using a sample of 1844 Chinese non-financial firms over the period 2003 to 2010. This study shows that the average leverage ratio of Chinese listed firms is similar to those observed in other developing countries. The...

This study analyses cross-country correlations of stock prices (values of firms) using the basic New Open Economy Macroeconomics model. We show that cross-country correlations of stock prices greatly depend on the currency of export pricing in the case of monetary shocks but not notably for...

Using probability distribution techniques, this paper explores whether any differences exist between the returns and volatility of yen/dollar spot markets in Tokyo, London, and New York. After the intraday returns were fit into probability distributions, New York is found to have the highest...

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, the United States may feel very flattered by the fact that other nations have modeled many of their regulations governing financial services (securities, banking, and insurance) on U.S. regulations. In fact, the United States government and the...

Good governance has become a mantra of the movement seeking to make multilateral financial institutions more accountable to their stakeholders while improving institutional governance. Although much of the visible criticism has been directed at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the...

This paper builds on a standard factor model of stock market returns to reconsider recent empirical literature on contagion in financial markets based on bivariate correlation analysis. According to this literature, contagion is defined as a structural break in the linear transmission mechanism...