Wai-Yip Alex Ho

Dynamic correlation analysis of financial contagion in Asian markets in global financial turmoil

This article investigates the dynamics of correlation between 11 Asian stock markets and the US stock market. By utilizing the method of ‘principal components’, we identify a single latent factor that can explain a major portion of variation in the weekly returns of these 11 markets from 1993 to early 2009. We employ the asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) model to estimate the correlation between this Asian factor and the US stock market. We find that there is a mean shift in the estimated DCC in the period from late of 2007. We refer this finding as contagion from the US to the Asian markets. However, we find no such evidence of having contagion between the US and individual markets in Asia during the Asian financial crisis.

Inflation, Financial Developments, and Wealth Distribution

We find that from 1995 to 2002 in China, the dispersion of wealth decreased, the moneywealth ratio increased for all wealth levels and the aggregate money-output ratio increased. We develop a two-asset dynamic general equilibrium model in which households face a portfolio adjustment cost and a borrowing constraint. We find that financial development lowers the dispersion of wealth by reducing the precautionary motive of households. In addition, tight monetary policies increase the value of money and thus increase the moneywealth ratio for all wealth levels and the aggregate money-output ratio.

Do economies stall

A ‘stalling’ economy has been defined as one that experiences a discrete deterioration in economic performance following a decline in its growth rate to below some threshold level. We examine the international evidence for stalling in a panel of 51 economies using two different definitions of a stall threshold (time-invariant and related to lagged average growth rates). We find that the evidence for stalling is limited: only 7–12 of the economies in our sample experience statistically significant stalls at the 5% level based on any one definition.

Examining the role of risk aversion in calculating the welfare cost of consumption fluctuations

This note examines the role of risk aversion in computing the welfare cost of consumption fluctuations under different utility and consumption process specifications. We find that the welfare cost of consumption fluctuations under a Constant-Relative-Risk-Aversion (CRRA) utility specification does not necessarily increase with the degree of relative risk aversion unless it fulfils certain conditions. The case of China is used as an illustration.

Liquidity Crunch in Late 2008: High-Frequency Differentials Between Forward-Implied Funding Costs and Money Market Rates

The US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have adopted a number of measures, including aggressive policy rate cuts, to ease the liquidity crunch in the financial markets following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Using high frequency spot and forward foreign exchange and interest rate quotes that are potentially executable for the period surrounding the 2008 global financial turmoil, this study examines the variations of intraday funding liquidity across the global financial markets that span different time zones. Moreover, the paper also tests how and to what extent policy actions undertaken by central banks affect the dynamics of market liquidity conditions. Similar to Hui et al. (2009), the paper uses the differential between the US dollar interest rate implied by the covered interest rate parity condition and the corresponding US dollar interest rate as a proxy for the liquidity (or the lack of it) in the US dollar money market. The study focuses on the EUR/USD exchange rate and compares the most stressful crisis period with other relatively less stressful periods. The intraday funding liquidity condition during the most tumultuous period shows that the pressures in the demand for US dollars through foreign exchange and forward markets spilled over to the Asian markets. The paper also examines how policy announcements by the central banks affect the dynamics of market liquidity. The study employs autoregressive models to capture the potential effects of monetary policy announcements on both the mean and volatility of the liquidity proxy. The empirical results show that the coordinated cuts of policy rates failed to stimulate lending in the short-term US money market, whereas the uncapped currency swap lines offered by the Federal Reserve to other central banks succeeded in easing the liquidity condition in the market. The policy is more effective and persistent for the very short end of the money market.