We evaluate whether machine learning methods can better model excess portfolio returns compared to the standard regression-based strategies generally used in the finance and econometric literature. We examine 17 benchmark factor model specifications based on Expected Utility Theory and theory...

It is well-established that a country's economic outcomes, including productivity, future income, and labour market performance, are profoundly influenced by the happiness of its people. Traditionally, survey data have been the primary source for determining people's happiness. However, this...

This paper develops a large-scale algorithm‑based application to improve the match quality in the labor market. We use comprehensive administrative data on employment biographies in Germany to predict job match quality in terms of job stability and wages. The models are estimated with both...

This paper examines the level of speculation associated with art non-fungible tokens (NFTs), comprehends the characteristics that confer value on them and designs a profitable trading strategy based on our findings. We analyze 860,067 art NFTs that have been deployed on the Ethereum blockchain...

Human decision-making differs due to variation in both incentives and available information. This generates substantial challenges for the evaluation of whether and how machine learning predictions can improve decision outcomes. We propose a framework that incorporates machine learning on...

Large-scale data show promise to provide efficiency gains through individualized risk predictions in many business and policy settings. Yet, assessments of the degree of data-enabled efficiency improvements remain scarce. We quantify the value of the availability of a variety of data...

Stock market prediction has always caught the attention of many analysts and researchers. Popular theories suggest that stock markets are essentially a random walk and it is a fool’s game to try and predict them. Predicting stock prices is a challenging problem in itself because of the number...

During the 2008 financial crisis, increasing risk and spillovers became a main concern for policy makers and banks. In addition, changes in sovereign and bank risk are believed to have had strong effects on world-wide exchange rates. This paper aims to analyze these dynamics empirically. We...

This paper introduces a novel database of text features extracted from the speeches of 53 central banks from 1996 to 2023 using state-of-the-art NLP methods. We establish four facts: (1) central banks with floating and pegged exchange rates communicate differently, and these differences are...

This paper introduces a novel database of text features extracted from the speeches of 53 central banks from 1996 to 2023 using state-of-the-art NLP methods. We establish four facts: (1) central banks with floating and pegged exchange rates communicate differently, and these differences are...