{"title":"Inflation convergence over time: Sector-level evidence within Europe","authors":"Hakan Yilmazkuday","doi":"10.1111/infi.12407","DOIUrl":"10.1111/infi.12407","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper investigates inflation convergence among European countries by using sector-level data for the period between 1997:M1 and 2019:M12. Panel unit root tests at the country-sector level are conducted by using moving windows, which are useful for analyzing changes in inflation convergence and the corresponding speed of convergence over time. The results suggest that there is evidence for inflation convergence for the majority of sectors within Europe, although certain countries have experienced disruptions, especially during the 2008 financial crisis. Regarding the speed of inflation convergence, the average half-life across European countries decreased from about 15 months to about 8 months during the sample period. Important sector-level implications follow for European Union (EU) candidate countries and non-euro EU member countries in regard to the Maastricht Treaty.</p>","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":"25 2","pages":"183-217"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47591641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gauging the effect of investor overconfidence on trading volume from the perspective of the relationship between lagged stock returns and current trading volume","authors":"Jiayu Huang, Yifan Wang, Yaojun Fan, Hexuan Li","doi":"10.1111/infi.12405","DOIUrl":"10.1111/infi.12405","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Is investor overconfidence a major source of stock-market trading volume? This study refers to the work of Grossman and Odean, introduces the assumption of investor overconfidence and empirically examines the influence of investor overconfidence on market trading volume in China's A-share market through a vector autoregressive model estimation and Granger causality test. We find that overconfidence and self-attribution exist in China's A-share market. When the market is on an upswing, investors attribute large returns to the accuracy of their private information and the quality of their investment abilities; thus they trade more frequently, causing trading volume to increase more quickly. Conversely, when the market is on a downswing, investors attribute their investment losses to uncontrollable external factors; thus they become unwilling to trade, causing trading volume to shrink rapidly.</p>","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":"25 1","pages":"103-123"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48064641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Financial structure convergence","authors":"Can Sever","doi":"10.1111/infi.12403","DOIUrl":"10.1111/infi.12403","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Financial structure, the degree to which a country's financial system is market- or bank-based, matters for economic outcomes. Hence, it is important to understand the drivers of financial structure. This paper sheds light on this issue and explores a specific mechanism in the evolution of financial structure, namely convergence. Financial structure is shown to converge across countries over time. This pattern remains similar even after controlling for macroeconomic and institutional factors, or for banking sector characteristics. It is not specific to a region, and appears to be similarly strong around the globe. However, financial structure convergence is somewhat weaker in the emerging market and developing economies relative to the advanced economies. Given the role of financial structure in economic performance, these findings have implications for macroeconomic and financial policies. Moreover, bridging cross-country gaps in financial structure has potential consequences for income differences across countries.</p>","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":"25 1","pages":"65-83"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44142053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Do credit rating agencies reward fiscal prudence?","authors":"João T. Jalles","doi":"10.1111/infi.12404","DOIUrl":"10.1111/infi.12404","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Governments are responsible for economic policy implementation, and their actions affect financial and capital market outcomes. Specifically, the way fiscal policy is conducted matters when credit agencies have to decide on how to rate a sovereign. This paper empirically assesses the effect of a new time-varying measure of fiscal counter-cyclicality on the sovereign credit ratings of the main agencies: Fitch, Standard & Poor's, and Moody's. I focus on a heterogeneous sample of 63 advanced and developing economies between 1980 and 2015. First, we find that the degree of fiscal counter-cyclicality is generally positive and has been increasing over time, being larger in advanced economies. Second, the more counter-cyclical a fiscal policy is, the better the assessment a rating agency gives to that country, particularly if it is an advanced one. This suggests that fiscal prudence and stabilization concerns are rewarded. Our results are robust to several sensitivity and robustness checks.</p>","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":"25 1","pages":"2-22"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49622376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Giorgio Canarella, Luis A. Gil-Alana, Rangan Gupta, Stephen M. Miller
{"title":"The behaviour of real interest rates: New evidence from a 'suprasecular' perspective","authors":"Giorgio Canarella, Luis A. Gil-Alana, Rangan Gupta, Stephen M. Miller","doi":"10.1111/infi.12402","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/infi.12402","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We examine the temporal dynamics of the historical series of real interest rates for France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain pre-1730 and post-1800, the United Kingdom, and the United States stretching back to the 14th century. We use the Robinson approach to determine the fractional order of integration and examine both linear deterministic trends and multiple smooth breaks. In the latter case we make use of the Chebyshev polynomials in time. With the exception of two countries (Italy and France), where the linear model appears more appropriate, our results reveal evidence that real interest rates are driven by the interaction between nonlinearities in the deterministic trends and fractional integration processes. They suggest that real interest rates are mean-reverting but not as persistent as suggested in the literature. In particular, the nonlinear model with autocorrelated errors provides no evidence of long memory, which questions most of the literature on real interest rates. The implications of these results are relevant to evaluate the effectiveness of policy interventions and the theoretical implications of different macroeconomic models as shocks affecting real interest rates will dissipate by themselves.</p>","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":"25 1","pages":"46-64"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"109171084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Detecting persistent one-sided intervention in foreign exchange markets: A simple test","authors":"Shiu-Sheng Chen, Jen-Kuan Wang","doi":"10.1111/infi.12401","DOIUrl":"10.1111/infi.12401","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper examines currency manipulation policies in foreign exchange markets. In particular, we focus on whether a country has implemented one-sided interventions that mostly lean against the appreciation wind in foreign exchange markets. Using quarterly data from 1998:Q1 to 2017:Q2 for 10 emerging countries, we find that China, Singapore, and Taiwan engaged in one-sided interventions. A further rolling regression analysis shows some moderate evidence that Taiwan is the only country conducting one-sided interventions on a continuing basis.</p>","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":"25 1","pages":"23-45"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48839700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The nonlinear causal relationship between short‐ and long‐term interest rates: An empirical assessment of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan","authors":"Huiqing Li, Yang Su","doi":"10.1111/infi.12400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/infi.12400","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44984857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Information asymmetry and capital structure: Evidence from the Chinese stock market","authors":"Kung-Cheng Ho, Yujing Gong","doi":"10.1111/infi.12399","DOIUrl":"10.1111/infi.12399","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Using a unique data set of information ratings (IRs) for firms listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2001 to 2018, we examine the impact of information asymmetry on capital structure decisions in China. We determine that firms with higher IRs have fewer debt issuances and lower leverage. This negative relationship is consistent for firms listed on the Main Board, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) board and Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) board. We further decompose IR into accounting-associated and nonaccounting-associated components and find that both are negatively correlated with leverage. Additional analyses reveal that for firms listed on the SME and GEM boards, the nonaccounting-associated component exhibits a stronger relationship with leverage than does the accounting-associated component. Our results suggest that information asymmetry is instrumental in capital-structure decision-making.</p>","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":"25 1","pages":"84-102"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42913768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The risk‐taking channel of currency appreciation: A structural VAR investigation of Asian emerging market economies","authors":"Hyeon‐seung Huh, David Kim","doi":"10.1111/infi.12398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/infi.12398","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46336,"journal":{"name":"International Finance","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/infi.12398","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41536794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}