This paper introduces a new parameter estimator of dynamic models in which the state is a multidimensional, continuous-time, partially observed Markov process. The estimator minimizes appropriate distances between nonparametric joint (and/or conditional) densities of sample data and...

Evidence that asset returns are more highly correlated during volatile markets and during market downturns (see Longin and Solnik, 2001, and Ang and Chen, 2002) has lead some researchers to propose alternative models of dependence. In this paper we develop two simple goodness-of-fit tests for...

With a move away from up-front charges following the introduction of stakeholder pensions, consumers are no longer penalised for lapsing on many long-term savings policies. Nevertheless, persistency rates may still provide an (imperfect) indicator of sales quality and provide some information on...

This paper examines the performance of personal pensions (exempt unit trusts) in the UK 1980-2000. Unitised personal pension schemes are a type of mutual fund that is constituted as a contractual savings scheme, whose value can only be accessed at retirement. By studying the performance of these...

Our purpose in this paper is to produce a tractable model which illuminates problems relating to individual bank behaviour and risk-taking, to possible contagious interrelationships between banks, and to the appropriate design of prudential requirements and incentives to limit ‘excessive’...

The aim of this paper is to construct theoretical models which help to shed light on the recent criticisms of volatile investment flows. We do not make any empirical attempt to establish the exisitence or gauge the importance of the adverse affects of flows in recent exchange rate crises....

Linear parabolic partial differential equations (PDE’s) and diffusion models are closely linked through the celebrated Feynman-Kac representation of solutions to PDE’s. In asset pricing theory, this leads to the representation of derivative prices as solutions to PDE’s. We give a number of...

In this paper we propose an estimation method for two classes of semiparametric scalar diffusion models driven by a Brownian motion: In the first class, only the diffusion term is parameterised while the drift is unspecified; in the second, the drift term is specified while the diffusion term is...

We propose a semiparametric single-factor diffusion model for the term structure of interest rate. The This model is highly flexible and encompasses most parametric single-factor models proposed in the literature. We fit the semiparametric model to a proxy of the Eurodollar short term interst...

The objective of this paper is to propose a model to assess risk for banks. Its main innovation is to incorporate endogenous interaction between banks, recognising that the actual risk to which an individual bank is exposed also depends on its interaction with other banks and other private...