Economics Commons^™

Central Bank Of Nigeria Annual Report And Statement Of Accounts For The Year Ended 31st December 2007, Central Bank Of Nigeria

CBN Annual Report

In 2007, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) faced significant challenges in monetary management due to statutory allocations to government tiers, autonomous foreign exchange inflows, and pre-election spending. These challenges were addressed through Open Market Operations (OMO), issuance of treasury securities, standing facilities, and foreign exchange swaps. The introduction of the monetary policy rate (MPR) in December 2006 moderated inter-bank rates, encouraged trading, and improved the transmission of monetary policy actions. The Bank intensified its non-regular management activities to ensure the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) target was met. The financial system at end-2007 comprised the CBN, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance …

Life And Debt For Etsu Graduate Students., Laura Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through in-depth interviews with 21 participants, this thesis investigates how graduate students at East Tennessee State University feel about their finances. Although all adults, by necessity, have everyday money concerns, this study explores the unique experiences that post-baccalaureate students have with debt, how they talk about it, and what meanings they attach to student loans in their daily lives. This study is novel in that little research to date has examined how graduate students' perceptions of adulthood are connected to their financial situations and their stage in life. For example, saving money is important to this population mainly because it …

An Overview Of Combinatorial Auctions, Peter Cramton, Yoav Shoham, Richard Steinberg

Peter Cramton

No abstract provided.

A Structural Analysis Of Higher Education Government Relations Organizations And Their Relationship To State Funding, Randall Brumfield

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Competing interests for state government funding have affected the status of public higher education as a budget priority. State legislators and executive officeholders are increasing appropriations to areas such as public K-12 education, health care, infrastructure, and social services programs at the expense of state colleges and universities. As such the higher education community must effectively utilize its government relations organizations to communicate with elected officials the importance of state funding. The purpose of the study was to identify the functional and personnel trends existing within government relations offices, and, to determine the extent a relationship may exist between organizational …

Comments On The Rggi Market Design, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

No abstract provided.

The 700 Mhz Spectrum Auction: An Opportunity To Protect Competition In A Consolidating Industry, Peter Cramton, Andrzej Skrzypacz, Robert Wilson

Peter Cramton

This paper is provided in connection with the 2007 Telecommunications Symposium – Voice, Video and Broadband: The Changing Competitive Landscape and Its Impact on Consumers, sponsored by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“the Division”). Our focus is on the state of competition in the wireless sector. Maintaining a competitive wireless sector is particularly critical if, as the Division’s agenda indicates, wireless services are to function as a competitive alternative to wireline technologies. Strengthening competition is especially important now after recent mergers that consolidated the wireless industry into a few dominant firms (two to four depending on …

Corporate Investment And Analyst Pressure, Sébastien Michenaud

Sébastien Michenaud

Direction-Of-Change Forecasts Based On Conditional Variance, Skewness And Kurtosis Dynamics: International Evidence, Peter F. Christoffersen, Francis X. Diebold, Roberto S. Mariano, Anthony S. Tay, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

Recent theoretical work has revealed a direct connection between asset return volatility forecastability and asset return sign forecastability. This suggests that the pervasive volatility forecastability in equity returns could, via induced sign forecastability, be used to produce direction-of change forecasts useful for market timing. We attempt to do so in an international sample of developed equity markets, with some success, as assessed by formal probability forecast scoring rules such as the Brier score. An important ingredient is our conditioning not only on conditional mean and variance information, but also conditional skewness and kurtosis information, when forming direction-of-change forecasts.

Distress During The Great Depression: The Illiquidity-Insolvency Debate Revisited, Gary Richardson

Gary Richardson

During the contraction from 1929 to 1933, the Federal Reserve System tracked changes in the status of all banks operating in the United States and determined the cause of each bank suspension. This essay analyzes chronological patterns in aggregate series constructed from that data. The analysis demonstrates both illiquidity and insolvency were substantial sources of bank distress. Periods of heightened distress were correlated with periods of increased illiquidity. Contagion via correspondent networks and bank runs propagated the initial banking panics. As the depression deepened and asset values declined, insolvency loomed as the principal threat to depository institutions.

Sv Mixture Models With Application To S&P 500 Index Returns, Garland B. Durham

Finance

Understanding both the dynamics of volatility and the shape of the distribution of returns conditional on the volatility state is important for many financial applications. A simple single-factor stochastic volatility model appears to be sufficient to capture most of the dynamics. It is the shape of the conditional distribution that is the problem. This paper examines the idea of modeling this distribution as a discrete mixture of normals. The flexibility of this class of distributions provides a transparent look into the tails of the returns distribution. Model diagnostics suggest that the model, SV-mix, does a good job of capturing the …

On The Use Of Size Premiums, Arithmetic Or Geometric Average Returns, And Liquidity Premiums In Determining Discount Rates, Hal B. Heaton

Faculty Publications

In recent court cases, a number of technical issues have arisen in determining appropriate discount rates for use in the discounted cash flow approach to valuation. This article examines three issues, reviews the literature about the issues, and summarizes the key considerations.

On The Segmentation Of Markets, Nicolas Laurent Jacquet, Serene Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper endogenizes the market structure of an economy with heterogeneous agents who want to form bilateral matches in the presence of search frictions and when utility is nontransferable. There exist infinitely many marketplaces, and each agent chooses which marketplace to be in: agents get to choose not only whom to match with but also whom they meet with. Perfect segmentation is obtained in equilibrium, where agents match with the first person they meet. All equilibria have the same matching pattern. Although perfect assortative matching is not obtained in equilibrium, the degree of assortativeness is greater than in standard models.

Check Is In The Mail: Correspondent Clearing And The Banking Panics Of The Great Depression, Gary Richardson

Gary Richardson

Weaknesses within the check-clearing system played a hitherto unrecognized role in the banking crises of the Great Depression. Correspondent check-clearing networks were vulnerable to counter-party cascades. Accounting conventions that overstated reserves available to corresponding institutions may have exacerbated the situation. The initial banking panic began when a correspondent network centered in Nashville collapsed, forcing over 100 institutions to suspend operations. As the contraction continued, additional correspondent systems imploded. The vulnerability of correspondent networks is one reason that banks that cleared via correspondents failed at higher rates than other institutions during the Great Depression.

Comments On The Fcc’S Proposed Competitive Bidding Procedures For Auction 73, Peter Cramton, Gregory Rosston, Andrzej Skrzypacz, Robert Wilson

Peter Cramton

No abstract provided.

The Shift From Defined Benefit Pensions To 401(K) Plans And The Pension Assets Of The Baby Boom Cohort, James Poterba, Steven Venti, David A. Wise

Dartmouth Scholarship

The rise of 401(k) plans and the decline of defined benefit plans will have an important effect on the wealth of future retirees. Changing demographic structure also will affect the aggregate stock of retirement wealth. We project the stock of assets held in retirement plans and the average retirement saving of retirees through 2040. Our projections show large increases in wealth at retirement, especially if the returns on corporate equities are comparable with historical returns. Retirement wealth will grow, however, even if equity returns fall substantially below their historical level.

The Study On Sinochem Shipping Corporation’S Fleet Expansion, Yunhao Ji

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Study On Function And Application Of Financial Leasing For The Development Of Small-Medium Shipping Enterprises In China, Tian Wen

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Possible Design For A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

No abstract provided.

Colombia’S Forward Energy Market, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

This paper presents a market design for Colombia’s forward energy market, which is scheduled to began in 2008. The forward energy market is an organized market to procure energy for electricity customers on a forward basis. It includes both the regulated market (residential and other small customers) and the nonregulated market (large customers). Currently, regulated customers represent 68% of the total electricity demand and nonregulated customers represent the remaining 32%. The proposed design is novel in that it integrates both the regulated and nonregulated customers into a single organized market. Although the regulated and nonregulated energy products remain distinct, their …

On The Segmentation Of Markets, Nicolas L. Jacquet, Serene Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper endogenizes the market structure of an economy with heterogeneous agents who want to form bilateral matches in the presence of search frictions and when utility is nontransferable. There exist infinitely many marketplaces, and each agent chooses which marketplace to be in: agents get to choose not only whom to match with but also whom they meet with. Perfect segmentation is obtained in equilibrium, where agents match with the first person they meet. All equilibria have the same matching pattern. Although perfect assortative matching is not obtained in equilibrium, the degree of assortativeness is greater than in standard models.

Affidavit Of Peter Cramton, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

Affidavit arguing that HQ manipulated the NYISO TCC and day-ahead energy markets. On behalf of DC Energy, LLC.

Economist Letter To Ntia On 700 Mhz Spectrum Auction, Peter Cramton, Andrzej Skrzypacz, Simon Wilkie, Robert Wilson

Peter Cramton

As the 700 MHz auction approaches, we are writing to clear up a common misconception about the nature of spectrum auctions and the impact of various rules on auction revenues.

Essential Entry: Revenues In The 700 Mhz Spectrum Auction, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

A common misconception is that an open access provision on a sliver of the 700 MHz spectrum would reduce auction revenues. In fact, the open access, wholesale, and bidding credit provisions put forth by Frontline Wireless, will motivate new entry, enhance competition in the auction, and raise revenues.

Strategic Alliances By Financial Services Firms, Hua Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

The importance of strategic alliances in the financial services industry is increasing; however, research focusing on strategic alliances is limited. In this dissertation, I intend to enhance the existing literature by examining the effect of strategic alliances on the value of financial services firms and the level of cooperation between partner firms involved in strategic alliances. The specific objectives of the dissertation are to examine the market reaction to strategic alliance announcements, to examine the preand post-announcement long-run abnormal stock performance and operating performance for the participants of strategic alliances, and to examine joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions after …

Stochastic Modeling Of Retail Mortgage Loans Based On Past Due, Prepaid, And Default States, Chang Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Stochastic models were developed that provide important measures related to retail mortgages and credit cards for the management of a bank. Based on Markov theory, two models were developed that predict mortgage portfolio size and expected duration of stay in each of the states, which are defined according to the criteria of Basel Accord II and the Federal Reserve Bank. Also, to facilitate comparisons among different types of credit products and different time periods, a model was developed to generate a health index for a retail mortgage. This model could be easily extended, using multivariate regression or multivariate time series …

Naked And Covered In Monte Carlo: A Reappraisal Of Option Taxation, Eric D. Chason

Faculty Publications

The market for equity options and related derivatives is staggering, covering trillions of dollars worth of assets. As a result, the taxation of these instruments is inherently important. Moreover, the importance is made even more acute by the use of options in creating more complex transactions and in avoiding taxes. Consider an equity call option, which entitles, but does not obligate, its holder to buy stock at a set price at a set time in the future. Option theory gives us a way to break the option down into more fundamental units. For example, an equity call option over 10,000 …

The Casual Link Between Stock Returns And Trading Volume: Some Evidence From An Emerging Market, Abdul Rashid

Business Review

This paper investigates the dynamic association between daily stock index returns and percentage trading volume changes. To proceed with this, linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests are applied to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) data. The analysis covers the span of about 5 years with 1266 daily observations. The same methodology is employed for two non-overlapping sub-periods to examine the robustness of the results. Unidirectional linear Granger causality from stock returns to trading volume is observed for the entire sample period and for both the sub-periods as well. The null hypothesis of linear Granger noncausality from percentage volume changes to …

Direction-Of-Change Forecasts For Asian Equity Markets Based On Conditional Variance, Skewness And Kurtosis Dynamics: International Evidence, Peter F. Christoffersen, Francis X. Diebold, Robert S. Mariano, Anthony S. Tay, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

Recent theoretical work has revealed a direct connection between asset return volatility forecastability and asset return sign forecastability. This suggests that the pervasive volatility forecastability in equity returns could, via induced sign forecastability, be used to produce direction-of change forecasts useful for market timing. We attempt to do so in an international sample of developed equity markets, with some success, as assessed by formal probability forecast scoring rules such as the Brier score. An important ingredient is our conditioning not only on conditional mean and variance information, but also conditional skewness and kurtosis information, when forming direction-of-change forecasts.

Revenues In The 700 Mhz Spectrum Auction, Peter Cramton, Andrzej Skrzypacz, Robert Wilson

Peter Cramton

There have been several comments that criticize auction rules that prevent the two major low-frequency incumbents from winning all of the newly available spectrum and incorporating it into their proprietary networks. Such rules include new-entrant set-asides, new-entrant bidding credits, and the open access plan. We disagree with these criticisms and argue that given the current market structure, such rules are likely to improve welfare and auction revenues. We are submitting this report to provide sound economic analysis of these claims.

Economic Comments On The Design Of The 700 Mhz Spectrum Auction, Peter Cramton, Andrzej Skrzypacz, Robert Wilson

Peter Cramton

We comment on the service and auction rules discussed in the Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, FCC 07-72, 27 April 2007. We recommend that the FCC designate one license for a wholesale operation that provides open access nationwide on nondiscriminatory terms. This is necessary to enable entry of new businesses offering wireless services in retail markets. It also enables local operators to offer roaming at competitive prices. The new license accords with the Commission’s policy to encourage competition, and recognizes the benefits to consumers from low prices and expanded services.