Using irregularly spaced returns to estimate multi-factor models: application to Brazilian equity data

Multi-factor models constitute a useful tool to explain cross-sectional covariance in equities returns. We propose in this paper the use of irregularly spaced returns in the multi-factor model estimation and provide an empirical example with the 389 most liquid equities in the Brazilian Market. The market index shows itself significant to explain equity returns while the US$/Brazilian Real exchange rate and the Brazilian standard interest rate does not. This example shows the usefulness of the estimation method in further using the model to fill in missing values and to provide interval forecasts.

Uma classe de preferências convexas sem representação côncava

Eu demonstro que preferências convexas com curvas de indiferença afins não tem representação côncava se existirem duas curvas de indiferença não-paralelas

Interim efficiency with MEU-preferences

Recently Kajii and (2008) proposed to characterize interim efficient allocations in an exchange economy under asymmetric information when uncertainty is represented by multiple posteriors. When agents have Bewley's incomplete preferences, Kajii and Ui (2008) proposed a necessary and sufficient condition on the set of posteriors. However, when agents have Gilboa--Schmeidler's MaxMin expected utility preferences, they only propose a sufficient condition. The objective of this paper is to complete Kajii and Ui's work by proposing a necessary and sufficient condition for interim efficiency for various models of ambiguity aversion and in particular MaxMin expected utility. Our proof is based on a direct application of some results proposed by Rigotti, Shannon and Stralecki (2008).

"We sold a million units": the role of advertising past-sales

In a market where past-sales embed information about consumers’ tastes (quality), we analyze the seller’s incentives to invest in a costly advertising campaign to report them under two informational assumptions. In the …rst scenario, a pooling equilibrium with past-sales advertising is derived. Information revelation only occurs when the seller bene…ciates from the herding behaviour that the advertising campaign induces on the part of consumers. In the second informational regime, a separating equilibrium with past-sales advertising is computed. Information revelation always happens, either through prices or through costly advertisements.

Introducing higher moments in the CAPM: some basic ideas

We show how to include in the CAPM moments of any order, extending the mean-variance or mean-variance-skewness versions available until now. Then, we present a simple way to modify the formulae, in order to avoid the appearance of utility parameters. The results can be easily applied to practical portfolio design, with econometric inference and testing based on generalised method of moments procedures. An empirical application to the Brazilian stock market is discussed.

Model selection, estimation and forecasting in VAR models with short-run and long-run restrictions

We study the joint determination of the lag length, the dimension of the cointegrating space and the rank of the matrix of short-run parameters of a vector autoregressive (VAR) model using model selection criteria. We consider model selection criteria which have data-dependent penalties for a lack of parsimony, as well as the traditional ones. We suggest a new procedure which is a hybrid of traditional criteria and criteria with data-dependant penalties. In order to compute the fit of each model, we propose an iterative procedure to compute the maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of a VAR model with short-run and long-run restrictions. Our Monte Carlo simulations measure the improvements in forecasting accuracy that can arise from the joint determination of lag-length and rank, relative to the commonly used procedure of selecting the lag-length only and then testing for cointegration.

Um indicador coincidente e antecedente da atividade econômica brasileira

Esse artigo tem três contribuições originais. A primeira é exatamente no esforço de reconstrução das séries de emprego e renda, de modo a permitir a criação de um novo índice coincidente para a atividade econômica brasileira. A segunda é a construção de um índice coincidente de atividade econômica para o Brasil e, a partir dele, (re)estabelecer uma cronologia de recessões para o passado recente da economia brasileira. A partir da reconstrução de séries coincidentes de emprego e renda à atividade econômica e, usando a metodologia do TCB, propomos um novo indicador coincidente mensal de atividade econômica para o Brasil no período 1980:1 a 2007:11.Além disso, propomos também uma cronologia das recessões brasileiras para esse mesmo período. A terceira é a construção e a avaliação de diferentes indicadores antecedentes de atividade econômica para o Brasil. Isso preenche uma lacuna importante na literatura brasileira.

A generalization of judds method of out-steady-state comparisons in perfect foresight models

We show that Judd (1982)’s method can be applied to any finite system, contrary to what he claimed in 1987. An example shows how to employ the technic to study monetary models in presence of capital accumulation.

Decision rules and information provision: monitoring versus manipulation

The paper focuses on the organization of institutions designed to resolve disputes between two parties, when some information is not veriable and decision makers may have vested preferences. It shows that the choice of how much discretional power to grant to the decision maker and who provides the information are intrinsically related. Direct involvement of the interested parties in the supply of information enhances monitoring over the decision maker, although at the cost of higher manipulation. Thus, it is desirable when the decision maker is granted high discretion. On the contrary, when the decision maker has limited discretional power, information provision is better assigned to an agent with no direct stake. The analysis helps to rationalize some organizational arrangements that are commonly observed in the context of judicial and antitrust decision-making.

Testing the optimality of aggregate consumption decisions: is there rule-of-thumb behavior?

Consumption is an important macroeconomic aggregate, being about 70% of GNP. Finding sub-optimal behavior in consumption decisions casts a serious doubt on whether optimizing behavior is applicable on an economy-wide scale, which, in turn, challenge whether it is applicable at all. This paper has several contributions to the literature on consumption optimality. First, we provide a new result on the basic rule-of-thumb regression, showing that it is observational equivalent to the one obtained in a well known optimizing real-business-cycle model. Second, for rule-of-thumb tests based on the Asset-Pricing Equation, we show that the omission of the higher-order term in the log-linear approximation yields inconsistent estimates when lagged observables are used as instruments. However, these are exactly the instruments that have been traditionally used in this literature. Third, we show that nonlinear estimation of a system of N Asset-Pricing Equations can be done efficiently even if the number of asset returns (N) is high vis-a-vis the number of time-series observations (T). We argue that efficiency can be restored by aggregating returns into a single measure that fully captures intertemporal substitution. Indeed, we show that there is no reason why return aggregation cannot be performed in the nonlinear setting of the Pricing Equation, since the latter is a linear function of individual returns. This forms the basis of a new test of rule-of-thumb behavior, which can be viewed as testing for the importance of rule-of-thumb consumers when the optimizing agent holds an equally-weighted portfolio or a weighted portfolio of traded assets. Using our setup, we find no signs of either rule-of-thumb behavior for U.S. consumers or of habit-formation in consumption decisions in econometric tests. Indeed, we show that the simple representative agent model with a CRRA utility is able to explain the time series data on consumption and aggregate returns. There, the intertemporal discount factor is significant and ranges from 0.956 to 0.969 while the relative risk-aversion coefficient is precisely estimated ranging from 0.829 to 1.126. There is no evidence of rejection in over-identifying-restriction tests.

Optimal auction with a general distribution: virtual valuation without densities

We characterize the optimal auction in an independent private values framework for a completely general distribution of valuations. We do this introducing a new concept: the generalized virtual valuation. To show the wider applicability of this concept we present two examples showing how to extend the classical models of Mussa and Rosen and Baron and Myerson for arbitrary distributions

The forward- and the equity-premium puzzles: two symptoms of the same illness?

We build a pricing kernel using only US domestic assets data and check whether it accounts for foreign markets stylized facts that escape consumption based models. By interpreting our stochastic discount factor as the projection of a pricing kernel from a fully specified model in the space of returns, our results indicate that a model that accounts for the behavior of domestic assets goes a long way toward accounting for the behavior of foreign assets. We address predictability issues associated with the forward premium puzzle by: i) using instruments that are known to forecast excess returns in the moments restrictions associated with Euler equations, and; ii) by pricing Lustig and Verdelhan (2007)'s foreign currency portfolios. Our results indicate that the relevant state variables that explain foreign-currency market asset prices are also the driving forces behind U.S. domestic assets behavior.

Finding a maximum skewness portfolio - A general solution to three-moments portfolio choice

Considering the three first moments and allowing short sales, the efficient portfolios set for n risky assets and a riskless one is found, supposing that agents like odd moments and dislike even ones. Analytical formulas for the solution surface are obtained and important geometric properties provide insights on its shape in the three dimensional space defined by the moments. A special duality result is needed and proved. The methodology is general, comprising situations in which, for instance, the investor trades a negative skewness for a higher expected return. Computation of the optimum portfolio weights is feasible in most cases.

Essays on the general equilibrium effects of barriers to trade on economic growth, foreign trade and the location of economic activity in Brazil

This work presents a fully operational interstate CGE model implemented for the Brazilian economy that tries to quantify both the role of barriers to trade on economic growth and foreign trade performance and how the distribution of the economic activity may change as the country opens up to foreign trade. Among the distinctive features embedded in the model, modeling of external scale economies, port efficiency and land-maritime transport costs provides an innovative way of dealing explicitly with theoretical issues related to integrated regional systems. In order to illustrate the role played by the quality of infrastructure and geography on the country‟s foreign and interregional trade performance, a set of simulations is presented where barriers to trade are significantly reduced. The relative importance of trade policy, port efficiency and land-maritime transport costs for the country trade relations and regional growth is then detailed and quantified, considering both short run as well as long run scenarios. A final set of simulations shed some light on the effects of liberal trade policies on regional inequality, where the manufacturing sector in the state of São Paulo, taken as the core of industrial activity in the country, is subjected to different levels of external economies of scale. Short-run core-periphery effects are then traced out suggesting the prevalence of agglomeration forces over diversion forces could rather exacerbate regional inequality as import barriers are removed up to a certain level. Further removals can reverse this balance in favor of diversion forces, implying de-concentration of economic activity. In the long run, factor mobility allows a better characterization of the balance between agglomeration and diversion forces among regions. Regional dispersion effects are then clearly traced-out, suggesting horizontal liberal trade policies to benefit both the poorest regions in the country as well as the state of São Paulo. This long run dispersion pattern, on one hand seems to unravel the fragility of simple theoretical results from recent New Economic Geography models, once they get confronted with more complex spatially heterogeneous (real) systems. On the other hand, it seems to capture the literature‟s main insight: the possible role of horizontal liberal trade policies as diversion forces leading to a more homogeneous pattern of interregional economic growth.

A demanda de importações de etanol pela Suécia e pela União Europeia

Como consequência da crescente preocupação, especialmente dos países desenvolvidos, em relação à dependência do petróleo e às mudanças climáticas, a participação dos biocombustíveis na matriz energética global está se tornando cada vez mais relevante. No Brasil, o mercado interno foi o determinante para o desenvolvimento da indústria sucroalcooleira nos últimos anos, mas sabe-se que a continuação desta tendência no médio prazo dependerá da demanda internacional pelo etanol brasileiro. De forma a compreender o potencial importador de etanol da União Europeia e, em particular, da Suécia, propôs-se, nesta dissertação, analisar os determinantes de suas importações. O presente trabalho descreveu a evolução do mercado de etanol no bloco, focando-se nos incentivos e políticas adotadas na Suécia, país-membro que está mais avançado na substituição da gasolina pelo etanol. Utilizando-se de dados de 2006 a 2009 e assumindo que as importações de etanol são resultantes de um excesso de demanda doméstica pelo biocombustível, analisaram-se as relações econômicas entre as variáveis. Observou-se que as variáveis associadas à demanda daquele bloco são, de forma geral, mais importantes na explicação do quantum importado do combustível do que as variáveis associadas à oferta regional. O impacto do aumento em 1% do preço da gasolina é de decréscimo de aproximadamente 1,8% nas importações de etanol. Quando o preço deste se eleva 1% na União Europeia, reduz em 1,4% as importações. Já em sentido oposto se movimentam as importações quando ocorre alteração na renda (PIB) e no preço do trigo, o principal insumo. Acréscimo de 1% na renda e no preço do trigo geram, respectivamente, 10,1% e 1,4% de crescimento nas importações de etanol. Assim, as principais oportunidades de exportação de etanol brasileiro para o bloco podem se dar por possíveis frustrações da safra de cereais e pelo crescimento da renda europeia. Já a tendência de ascensão do preço do petróleo pode ter impacto negativo na demanda de etanol, caso não haja compensação através de políticas mais agressivas de uso de biocombustíveis. As importações suecas comportam-se de maneira semelhante às do bloco quando ocorrem choques. Um porcento de elevação no preço da gasolina sueca reduz em 2,71% as importações de etanol e, estas crescem 4,4% quando do acréscimo de 1% do PIB do país. Importante é o impacto nas importações da frota preparada para E85: 1% de elevação nesta frota gera acréscimo de 8% no volume importado. Desta forma, a extinção recente de alguns incentivos para a compra de veículos movidos a E85 pode significar estabilidade da necessidade de importações de etanol relacionada a esta variável, passando então a renda a ter um papel mais importante no crescimento das importações. Já o coeficiente do preço do E85 apresentou-se estatisticamente não diferente de zero, podendo este resultado ser consequência de uma possível diferença do perfil dos proprietários de carros movidos a E85, relativamente ao dos proprietários de carros movidos exclusivamente à gasolina, dando margem a uma política de preços mais remuneradora para os produtores de etanol, sendo estes suecos ou brasileiros, com baixo impacto sobre a demanda.