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This paper has tested the efficiency, weak form according to EMH, of the currency future market. The efficiency test has been incorporated in the research question since the market has to be efficient in order for the future to work as predictor of the future spot rate - Can currency futures be used as a tool for predicting futures spot exchange rate? The two sub questions are - Is the prediction power of currency futures stable over time and is the prediction power of currency futures similar for different currencies?   The main theory in the research is the Efficient Market Hypothesis and the Random Walk Hypothesis. The research was conducted with a positivistic philosophy in conjunction with a realistic approach. Since the research question has been deducted from the theoretical framework the research has a deductive approach, a quantitative technique was adapted when the data at hand was mainly future and spot rate data.   Data on 13 currencies ranging from 2005 to 2010 was used. The prices were available in weekly intervals for all currencies except for the Brazilian real, Swiss frank and the Mexican peso. The statistical test that was used is the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test and the Phillips-Ouliaris cointegration test. The test was conducted on the whole timeframe. After that, the data was divided into three sub periods to show if the efficiency where different in the period before the crises (2005-2007), during the crises (2008-2009) and after the crises (2010). The test has also been done on annual and quarterly data to show if the length of the time period tested has an effect on efficiency. The PO test has been conducted on all data and the ADF test has been conducted on the whole timeframe and the sub periods.   The results show that, ten of the currencies which we had weakly data, the future is a good predictor of the future spot exchange rate. This is true when the tests are done on an interval of one year and more. For the three currencies that we had monthly data, the results showed cointegration on the whole timeframe. When shorter time periods were tested the currencies that consisted of monthly data showed no cointegration sooner than the weakly data. When test is done on quarterly data, only one test is cointegrated. It cannot concluded that, the future was not a good predictor for the future spot exchange rate during this time, merely that this particular test might be the true one and that the tests where not able to capture it. Several reasons for this are presented in the analysis chapter, where the statistical tests and their design are mentioned among other reasons.

In this thesis we empirically examine whether the Turkish stock market is driven by rational bubbles over the period between March 1990 and February 2012. The bubble periods are estimated using a recently developed right-tailed unit root test, the generalized sup augmented Dickey-Fuller test of Phillips, Shi and Yu (2011a). Applying their bubble detection and location strategies to weekly price dividend ratio series, we find strong evidence for the existence of rational bubbles in the Turkish stock market benchmark indices as well as sector indices. Our located bubble periods may give early warning signals of the subsequent Turkish financial crisis.

Thesis (M. Com.(Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / The relationship between unemployment, exchange rate and inflation has been a subject of debate for many years. Given the fact that South Africa is faced with a very low economic growth rate, inflation rate which is likely to go beyond the upper band of 6 percent and a high level of unemployment, policy makers are often faced with the trade-off between unemployment and inflation rate in the country. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between exchange rate, unemployment and inflation in South Africa. The study employed Johansen cointegration procedures and the vector error correction model (VECM) to capture the relationship between the variables. The Engle-Granger causality test was also employed to analyse causality amongst the variables. The results of Johansen cointegration test indicate that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables. The VECM also confirmed the existence of short-run equilibrium relationship between the variables. The nature of the relationship indicates that there is a significant negative relationship between unemployment and inflation in South Africa. This implies that policy makers are been faced with the trade-off between these two variables. The results further indicate that inflation is positively related to exchange rate, meaning a depreciation of the Rand (South African currency) in the foreign exchange market will feed to inflation in the home country. Furthermore, it is also indicated that unemployment is positively related to exchange rate. Meaning, a depreciation of the Rand in the foreign exchange market increases the level of unemployment in South Africa. All the results appeared to be significant. Policies aimed at lowering unemployment and inflation rate are recommended. It is also recommended that policy makers in South Africa take measures to improve the quality of education, skills training and steps to increase the labour intensity of production.

本研究有系統地收集了2003年8月12日到2005年9月30日止共495個交易日的台指期貨、選擇權市場裡P/C量、P/C倉、隱含波動率(AIV)、不同天數的歷史波動率等收盤資料，進行這些因素與行情走勢間的關係，以及因素彼此的互動性。結果證實分析台指選擇權指標是需要區分金融重大衝擊前後期間，以及區分漲勢、跌勢、盤整的各期間，各期間的選擇權指標均會有不同意涵。 本論文證實使用結構轉換的Chow-ARMA(2,1)模型可能比較符合模擬指數 實況，且GARCH(1,1) 模型也很適合描述台期指貨波動度預測力。在選擇權指標方面：P/C量與AIV與台指期貨呈現負相關，P/C倉與台指期貨正相關。其中以P/C倉對指數漲跌的影響程度最大、P/C量的影響程度次之、AIV影響程度最小。若把隱含波動率區分成買權與賣權之各個波動率更有效地預測行情走勢，在大跌期間的買賣權隱含波動率更能表現出優越的預測能力，其中前兩期的賣權隱含波動率(PIV)更是效率性指標， 實證結果使用20天的歷史波動率比較能貼近選擇權市場的變化，跟過去教 科書慣用的90天不同。若比較歷史波動率與隱含波動率間的關係，結論是當「大跌期」歷史波動率大於買權隱含波動率(CIV)時，買權是會被低估的，其他的各種假設條件均不成立。理由有二：一是市場效率性決定了是否可使用隱含波動率與歷史波動率之間的高低關係。二是「大跌時期」相對於「大漲時期」的市場資訊被反應的更敏銳，而在「大跌時期」的賣權價格反應比買權價格反應更快速敏銳。 本研究推論的Chow-ARMA(2,1) 台指期貨模型、GARCH(1,1) 波動率模型、P/C量-P/C倉-AIV的多變數模型、FMA20/XIV模型等等在研判指數變化上具有參考價值，進一步均可以做為選擇權操作策略參考依據之一。