This paper analyzes a stylized theoretical framework to examine optimal portfolio selection in an international context with an explicit focus on the effect of the exchange rate. More specifically, we study how the elimination of the exchange rate induces shifts in the optimal international...

Using unique household survey data from Ecuador, we study how an increase in poor households' income affects their probability of borrowing from local loan sharks ("chulqueros"). We exploit a natural experiment created by a government cash transfer program for which only households with a...

In this article, we give various recommendations to boost the performance of credit risk models. It is based upon more than two decades of research and consulting on the topic. Building credit risk models typically entails four steps: gathering and preprocessing data, modelling of probability of...

Absence of arbitrage conditions impose important restrictions on the dynamics of bond and exchange rate returns. It can be shown that the exchange rate serves to convert prices of international undiversifiable risks from one currency to another. Put differently, arbitrage ensures that risk...

This paper studies international financial integration by testing the law of one price across national borders. We extend the methodology as proposed by Chen and Knez (1995) to an international environment and analyze the level of cross-border mispricings. The empirical analysis shows that...

This paper studies international financial integration by testing the law of one price across national borders. We use the distance between national discount factors as an integration measure and analyze the level of cross-border mispricing. The empirical analysis shows that pricing...

In this paper we assess the effects of monetary unification in Europe on the pricing behavior in financial markets and more in particular on excess returns. We use the standard IAPT framework to analyze the role of the exchange rate in separating excess return pricing accross European countries....