Paul Söderlind

Solution and estimation of RE macromodels with optimal policy

Macro models of monetary policy typically involve forward looking behavior. Except in rare circumstances, we have to apply some numerical method to find the optimal policy and the rational expectations equilibrium. This paper summarizes a few useful methods, and shows how they can be combined with a Kalman filter to estimate the deep model parameters with maximum likelihood. Simulations of a macro model with staggered price setting, interest rate elastic output, and optimal monetary policy illustrate the properties of this estimation approach.

Inflation Risk Premia and Survey Evidence on Macroeconomic Uncertainty

Nominal and real U.S. interest rates (1997Q1-2008Q2) are combined with inflation expectations from the Survey of Professional Forecasters to calculate time series of risk premia. It is shown that survey data on inflation and output growth uncertainty, as well as a proxy for liquidity premia can explain a large amount of the variation in these risk premia.

New Techniques to Extract Market Expectations from Financial Instruments

This paper is a selective survey of new or recent methods to extract information about market expectations from asset prices for monetary policy purposes. Traditionally, interest rates and forward exchange rates have been used to extract expected means of future interest rates, exchange rates and inflation. More recently, these methods have been refined to rely on implied forward interewst rates, so as to extract expected future time paths. Very recently, methods have been designed to extract not only the means but the whole (risk neutral) probability distribution from a set of option prices.

Inflation Forecast Uncertainty

We study the inflation uncertainty reported by individual forecasters in the Survey of Professional Forecasters 1969-2001. Three popular measures of uncertainty built from survey data are analyzed in the context of models for forecasting and asset pricing, and improved estimation methods are suggested. Popular time series models are evaluated for their ability to reproduce survey measures of uncertainty. The results show that disagreement is a better proxy of inflation uncertainty than what previous literature has indicated, and that forecasters underestimate inflation uncertainty. We obtain similar results for output growth uncertainty.

Safe Haven Currencies

We study high-frequency exchange rates over 1993-2008. Based on the recent literature on volatility and liquidity risk premia, we use a factor model to capture linear and non-linear linkages between currencies, stock and bond markets as well as proxies for market volatility and liquidity. We document that the (Swiss) franc and Japanese yen appreciate against the US dollar when US stock prices decrease and US bond prices and FX volatility increase. These safe haven properties materialise over different time granularities (from a few hours to several days) and non-linearly with the volatility factor and during crises. The latter effects were particularly discernible for the yen during the recent financial crisis.

Performance and Characteristics of Swedish Mutual Funds

This paper studies the relation between fund performance and fund attributes in the Swedish market. Performance is measured as the alpha in a linear regression of fund returns on several benchmark assets, allowing for time-varying betas. The estimated performance is then used in a cross-sectional analysis of the relation between performance and fund attributes such as past performance, flows, size, turnover, and proxies for expenses and trading activity. The results show, among other things, that good performance is to be found among small equity funds, low-fee funds, funds whose trading activity is high, and in some cases, funds with good past performance.

The Time-Varying Systematic Risk of Carry Trade Strategies

We explain the currency carry trade (CT) performance using an asset pricing model in which factor loadings are regime dependent rather than constant. Empirical results show that a typical CT strategy has much higher exposure to the stock market and is mean reverting in regimes of high foreign exchange volatility. The findings are robust to various extensions. Our regime-dependent pricing model provides significantly smaller pricing errors than a traditional model. Thus, the CT performance is better explained by a time-varying systematic risk that increases in volatile markets, suggesting a partial resolution of the uncovered interest parity puzzle.

New techniques to extract market expectations from financial instruments

This paper is a selective survey of new or recent methods to extract information about market expectations from asset prices for monetary policy purposes. Traditionally, interest rates and forward exchange rates have been used to extract expected means of future interest rates, exchange rates and inflation. More recently, these methods have been refined to rely on implied forward interest rates, so as to extract expected future time-paths. Very recently only the means but the whole (risk neutral) probability distribution from a set of option prices.

Solution of Macromodels with Hansen-Sargent Robust Policies: Some Extensions

We summarize some methods useful in formulating and solving Hansen-Sargent robust control problems, and suggest extensions to discretion and simple rules. Matlab, Octave, and Gauss software is provided. We illustrate these extensions with applications to the term structure of interest rates, the time inconsistency of optimal monetary policy, the effects of expectations on the variances of inflation and output, and on whether central banks should make their forecasts public.

Devaluation Expectations: The Swedish Krona 1982-1991

Devaluation expectations for the Swedish krona are estimated for the period 1982-1991 with several methods. First the simplest test is applied under either only the minimal assumption of no positive minimum profit or the additional assumption of uncovered interest parity. Then a more precise method suggested by Bertola and Svensson is used, in which expected rates of depreciation within the exchange rate band, estimated in several ways, are subtracted from interest rate differentials. In addition the probability density of the time of devaluations is estimated. Finally, estimated devaluation expectations are to some extent explained by a few macrovariables and parliament elections.