Now showing 1 - 10 of 19
  • Publication
    Volatility and Irish exports
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2004-10-12) ;
    We analyse the impact of volatility per se on exports for a a small open economy concentrating on Irish trade with the UK and the US. An important element is that we take account of the time lag between the trade decision and the actual trade or payments taking place by using a flexible lag approach. Rather than adopt a single measure of risk we also adopt a spectrum of risk measures and detail varied size characteristics and statistical properties. We find that the ambiguous results found to date may well be due to not taking account of the timing effect which varies substantially depending on which volatility measure is used. However, the foreign exchange volatility effect is consistently positive, indicating the dominance of exporters expectations of possible profitable opportunities from future cash flows. The potential negative aspects of trade, the entry and exit costs, are accounted for by a negative influence of income volatility on trade.
      328
  • Publication
    Real & nominal foreign exchange volatility effects on exports – the importance of timing
    (2009-11-19T16:30:10Z) ;
    This paper compares real and nominal foreign exchange volatility effects on exports. Using a flexible lag version of the Goldstein-Khan two-country imperfect substitutes model for bilateral trade, we identify the overall effect into both a timing as well as a size impact. We find that the size impact of forecasted foreign exchange volatility does not vary according to the measure used in terms of magnitude and direction. However, there are very different timing effects, when we compare real and nominal foreign exchange rate volatility.
      307
  • Publication
    Monetary shocks and REIT returns
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2007) ; ;
    We investigate the influence of unanticipated changes in US monetary policy on Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT’s). Although a number of studies have investigated the issue of interest rate changes, the effect of unanticipated changes has not previously been addressed in terms of possible effects on both REIT’s returns and volatility. The results show a strong response in both the first and second moments of REIT returns to unexpected policy rate changes. The results for the impact of the shock on both mean and volatility of returns is consistent with results from studies addressing broader equity markets. However, we find evidence both against behavioral changes in volatility coincident to US monetary policy decisions and asymmetric responses to the monetary policy shock.
      1123
  • Publication
    Foreign shocks and the volatility of the ISEQ
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2004-05-30) ; ;
    We investigate the influence of foreign monetary policy decisions on the volatility of the Irish stock market. Specifically, we examine the influence of US monetary policy announcements on the ISEQ. We find evidence of the so called calm before the storm i.e. there appears to be a decline in volatility on the day prior to an FOMC meeting and a subsequent increase in volatility after the results of such meetings are made known. We also find evidence to suggest that ISEQ volatility is influenced by surprise changes in US monetary policy. Moreover, US monetary surprises appear to affect Irish stock return volatility asymmetrically. In particular, higher than expected US federal funds, tend to increase Irish stock return volatility. This paper represents an important step in addressing the issues of spillover identification between the US and the Irish stock market.
      154
  • Publication
    Investigating sources of unanticipated exposure in industry stock returns
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2009) ;
    This paper investigates the degree of both foreign exchange rate and interest rate exposure of industry level portfolios in the G7. Our paper draws on the efficient market hypothesis and examines the extent of unexpected foreign exchange (and interest rate) exposure rather than the standard approach of focusing purely on the change in foreign exchange (and interest rate) exposure. The results from our baseline regressions are consistent with those previously found in the literature that there is little evidence of exchange rate exposure in most markets - this is the exchange rate exposure puzzle. The second critical element of our analysis is that we investigate the sources of the exposure and examine the existence of indirect levels of both foreign exchange and interest rate exposure. The findings of exposure to foreign exchange rates and interest rates are extensive for industry sectors in the G7 economies when we take account of the possible channels of influence. Results indicate key differences between countries in terms of the relative importance of these cash flow and discount rate channels.
      695
  • Publication
    European monetary policy surprises : the aggregate and sectoral stock market response
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2005-12) ; ;
    In this paper we investigate the stock market response to international monetary policy changes in the UK and Germany. Specifically, we analyse the impact of (un)expected changes in UK and German/euro area policy rates on UK and German aggregate and sectoral stock returns in an event study. The decomposition of the (un)expected changes in policy rates are based on futures markets. Overall, our results suggest that, UK monetary policy surprises have a significant negative influence on both aggregate and industry level stock returns in both the UK and Germany. The in uence of German/Euro area monetary policy shocks appears insignificant for both countries.
      1053
  • Publication
    UK Stock returns & the impact of domestic monetary policy shocks
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2005-10-21) ; ;
    We investigate the influence of changes in UK monetary policy on UK stock returns and the possible reasons behind such a response. Firstly, we conduct an event study to assess the impact of unexpected changes in monetary policy on aggregate and sectoral stock returns. The decomposition of unexpected changes in the policy rate is based on futures markets data. Secondly, using a variance decomposition in the spirit of Campbell (1991) we attempt to identity the channels behind the response of stock returns to monetary policy surprises. The variance decomposition results indicate that the monetary policy shock leads to a persistent negative response in terms of future excess returns for a number of sectors.
      737
  • Publication
    Monetary policy & real estate investment trusts
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2007) ; ;
    This paper assesses the response of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT's) to unexpected changes in US monetary policy. A critical element in this study is the use of futures markets to isolate unexpected changes in the policy rate. We find a significant negative response of REIT returns to a surprise change in the policy rate. The paper then examines the potential sources behind such an observed response. We find important differences between the REIT market and the broader equity market. Intuitively the impact of monetary policy on dividend news appears to be more pronounced in the REIT case. However, the decomposition of the response to monetary shocks is largely driven by revision in expectations regarding future excess returns and these results are largely consistent with the findings for the overall stock market as reported in Bernanke & Kuttner (2005).
      407
  • Publication
    Oil volatility and the option value of waiting : an analysis of the G-7
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2009-08) ; ;
    There has recently been considerable interest in the potential adverse effects associated with excessive uncertainty in energy futures markets. Theoretical models of investment under uncertainty predict that increased uncertainty will tend to induce firms to delay investment. These models are widely utilized in capital budgeting decisions, particularly in the energy sector. There is relatively little empirical evidence, however, on whether such channels have industry-wide effects. Using a sample of G7 countries we examine whether uncertainty about a prominent commodity – oil – affects the time series variation in manufacturing activity. Our primary result is consistent with the predictions of real options theory – uncertainty about oil prices has had a negative and significant effect on manufacturing activity in Canada, France, UK and US.
      429
  • Publication
    International policy rate changes and Dublin interbank offer rates
    (University College Dublin. School of Business. Centre for Financial Markets, 2004) ; ;
    We investigate the influence of international interest rate changes on the Dublin inter bank money market rates (Dibor). Specifically, we analyse the impact of (un)expected changes in German(Euro) area and US policy rates on various Dibor rates between 1991 to 2002 in an event type study. Our decomposition of (un)expected changes of policy rates are based on future markets and is akin to Kuttner (2000). Overall, our results suggest that Dibor rates respond positively and significantly to unanticipated Euro and US policy rate changes while expected changes have an insignificant impact.
      1071