We characterize the equilibrium exchange rate in a general equilibrium economy without imposing strong restrictions on the output processes, preferences, or commodity market imperfections. The nominal exchange rate is determined by differences in initial wealths the currencies of richer...

In this paper, we wish to evaluate the performance of simple asset-allocation strategies such as allocating 1/N to each of the N assets available. To do this, we compare the out-of-sample performance of such simple allocation rules to about ten models of optimal asset-allocation (including both...

In this paper, we evaluate the out-of-sample performance of the portfolio policy from the sample-based mean-variance portfolio model and the various extensions of this model, designed to reduce the impact of estimation error relative to the benchmark strategy of investing a fraction 1/N of...

With transactions costs for trading goods, the nominal exchange rate moves within a band around the nominal PPP value. We model the behavior of the band and of the exchange rate within the band. The model explains why there are below-unity slope coefficients in regression tests of PPP, and why...

In this paper, we examine the effect of segmented commodity markets on the relationship between the forward exchange rates premium and changes in the future spot rates in a general equilibrium model. Market segmentation is modeled by introducing a proportional cost for transferring physical...

This paper considers the problem of a financial institution that needs to hedge a stream of state-contingent cash flows while facing borrowing and short-sales restrictions. The study determines analytically the strategy that minimizes the initial cost of hedging the desired cash flow, which is...

Does the choice of weighting scheme used to form test portfolios influence inferences drawn from empirical tests of asset pricing? To answer this question we first show that, with monthly rebalancing, an equal-weighted portfolio outperforms a value-weighted portfolio in terms of total mean...

Our objective is to develop a methodology to price the cross section of asset returns. Despite the hundreds of systematic risk factors considered in the literature (``factor zoo''), there is still a sizable pricing error. We show that what is missing in asset-pricing factor models is not...

We develop a normative theory for constructing mean-variance portfolios robust to model misspecification. We identify two inefficient portfolios---an "alpha'' portfolio, representing latent asset demand, that depends only on pricing errors and a "beta'' portfolio that depends on factor risk...