Although the Black-Scholes (BS) model and its alternatives have been widely applied in finance, their flaws have drawn the attention of many investors and risk managers. The Black-Scholes (BS) model fails to explain the volatility smile. Its alternatives, such as the BS model with a Poisson jump process, fail to explain the volatility clustering. Based on the literature, a novel dynamic regime-switching option-pricing model is developed in this thesis, to overcome the flaws of the traditional option pricing models. Five macroeconomic indicators are identified as the drivers of economic states over time. Two regimes are selected among all likely numbers of regimes under the Bayes Information Criterion (BIC). Both in-sample and out-of-sample tests are constructed to examine the prediction of the model. Empirical results show that the two-state regime-switching option-pricing model exhibits significant prediction power.

Researchers have dedicated considerable work to explaining components to excess stock market returns. Recently, Atanasov et al. (2020) managed to explain some of this variance in the US stock markets with a cyclical consumption variable. We have applied their model into the Nordic countries and compared it to a second model containing additional control variables. From the analysis, we find that cyclical consumption is able to explain excess stock market returns across five different h-quarter ahead excess returns. However, results are not consistent across countries. The extended model improves the explanatory capabilities of the model only up to two-year ahead excess returns. The cyclical consumption measure is also able to predict excess returns better than an historical average model. The findings in this paper are robust to out-of-sample predictability analysis and to a different measure of consumption and returns.

This thesis examines whether the level of Swedish economic policy uncertainty (EPU) can predict excess returns on the Swedish stock market. We run out-of-sample forecasting using an EPU-based predictive model constructed with the official Swedish EPU index developed by Armelius et al. (2017). Forecasting errors for one-, two-, three-, six-, and twelve-month holding periods and four measures of central tendency are analysed and compared against a random walk benchmark. The findings suggest that EPU has limited forecasting ability for excess stock returns in Sweden, and the EPU-based model demonstrates superior forecasting accuracy only in two out of twenty instances, both for the one-month holding period. However, the forecast errors remain relatively large, casting doubt on the model's ability to outperform the market. Furthermore, the EPU-based model consistently underestimates excess returns, questioning its usefulness as a predictor. Notably, the random walk benchmark's forecast error improves with longer holding periods, raising doubts about the predictability of market movements in the long term.

In this thesis, we suggest a goodness-ofit test for semi-parametric copula models. We extended the pseudo in-and-out-sample (PIOS) test proposed in [17], which is based on the PIOS test in [28]. The PIOS test is constructed by comparing the pseudo "in-sample" likelihood and pseudo "out-of-sample" likelihood. Our contribution is twoold. First, we use the approximate test statistics instead of the exact test statistics to alleviate the computational burden of calculating the test statistics. Secondly, we propose a parametric bootstrap procedure to approximate the distribution of the test statistic. Unlike the nonparametric bootstrap which resamples from the original data, the parametric procedure resamples the data from the copula model under the null hypothesis. We conduct simulation studies to investigate the performance of the approximate test statistic and parametric bootstrap. The results show that the parametric bootstrap presents higher test power with a well-controlled type I error compared to the nonparametric bootstrap.

This thesis concerns about the effectiveness of sanctions imposed between Russia and the EU in 2014. Firstly are conducted theoretical foundations of sanctions and their imposition from the EU as well as Russian contra-sanctions. Secondly, the analysis is based on the gravity model in trade in log-linear form and further develop out-of-sample estimations about trade potentials. Although trade potentials did not proved the expected decrease in exports from EU to Russia, the Input-Output analysis of impacts on exports of food products did so. Results yielded calculated impacts on GDP of various countries due to food embargo that are more or less comparable with the actual evolution of GDP and trade flows. Thirdly, the indirect effects of sanctions of third country effect and re-exports are observed from trade patterns. There has been recorded increased exports of food related products from the EU towards members of Euroasian Customs Union as well as increased imports from these countries to Russia. Finally, the results points out decreased economic activity of Russia due to depreciation of domestic currency, capital flight, decline in oil prices and also sanctions adding up to the problems the economy deals with. The economic impacts of sanctions are present in both parties. However, from the political view sanctions did not proved to be effective so far. Russian intervention in Ukraine territory is continuing.

My dissertation consists of three essays in three different areas: international trade; agricultural markets; and nonparametric econometrics. The first and third essays are theoretical papers, while the second essay is empirical. In the first essay, I developed a political economy model of trade agreements where the set of policy instruments are endogenously determined, providing a rationale for countervailing duties (CVDs). Trade-related policy intervention is assumed to be largely shaped in response to rent seeking demand as is often shown empirically. Consequently, the uncertain circumstance during the lifetime of a trade agreement involves both economic and rent seeking conditions. The latter approximates the actual trade policy decisions more closely than the externality hypothesis and thus provides scope for empirical testing. The second essay tests whether normal mixture (NM) generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models adequately capture the relevant properties of agricultural commodity prices. Volatility series were constructed for ten agricultural commodity weekly cash prices. NM-GARCH models allow for heterogeneous volatility dynamics among different market regimes. Both in-sample fit and out-of-sample forecasting tests confirm that the two-state NM-GARCH approach performs significantly better than the traditional normal GARCH model. For each commodity, it is found that an expected negative price change corresponds to a higher volatility persistence, while an expected positive price change arises in conjunction with a greater responsiveness of volatility. In the third essay, I propose an estimator for a nonparametric additive unconditional quantile regression model. Unconditional quantile regression is able to assess the possible different impacts of covariates on different unconditional quantiles of a response variable. The proposed estimator does not require d-dimensional nonparametric regression and therefore has no curse of dimensionality. In addition, the estimator has an oracle property in the sense that the asymptotic distribution of each additive component is the same as the case when all other components are known. Both numerical simulations and an empirical application suggest that the new estimator performs much better than alternatives. / the Canadian Agricultural Trade Policy and Competitiveness Research Network, the Structure and Performance of Agriculture and Agri-products Industry Network, and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Food and Agricultural Policy.

明天股票的價格是會漲還是會跌呢? 明天到底會不會下雨? 下期樂透開獎會是哪些號碼呢? 未來不知道會發生哪些事情? 大家總是希望能夠未卜先知、洞悉未來! 可是我們要如何進行預測呢? 本文比較了不同時間序列模型的預測績效, 而且測試預測的結合是否能夠改進預測的準確度? 時間序列模型的研究在近年來非常蓬勃地發展, 所以本文簡單介紹了時間序列模型(Time series models)當中的線性AR模型、非線性TAR模型、非線性STAR模型, 以及這些模型該如何來進行在樣本外的預測。 同時本文說明了預測的結合(Combined forecast)該如何進行? 預測結合的目的是希望能夠達到截長補短的效果! 除了傳統迴歸(Regression-based)方法和變動係數(Time-varying coefficients)方法外, 本文提出了兩種非迴歸類型的預測結合方法, 績效權數(Fitness weight)和支向機(Support Vector Machine)。 其中主要的焦點放在支向機, 因為迴歸方法可能會有共線性的問題, 支向機則是沒有這個問題。 本文實證的結果顯示, 在時間序列模型方面, 非線性模型的預測能力, 在大多數的情形底下, 都不如簡單的線性AR模型; 在預測結合的方面, 支向機的績效是和迴歸方法的績效是差不多的, 這兩者都比變動係數方法的績效來得穩固, 可是如果基底模型的預測值存在共線性的問題或樣本數目過少的問題, 那麼支向機的績效是優於迴歸方法的績效。 最後, 時間序列模型的預測績效會受到資料性質的影響, 而有極大的改變, 或許我們可以考慮使用比較保險的預測策略-預測結合, 因為預測結合的預測誤差範圍是小於時間序列模型的預測誤差範圍!

在利率自由化的過程中，貨幣市場利率變化情形較以前劇烈，因此近年來 使得一些需要運用貨幣市場來融通短期資金的廠商與個人較以往面臨更大 的利率變動的風險。本文的主要目的在探討以芝加哥期貨交易所(CBOT)之 美國長期公債期貨合約、十年期公債期貨合約及五年期公債期貨合約及芝 加哥商品期貨交易所(CME) 的美國國庫券期貨、Eurodollar期貨之組合交 叉規避國內商業本票30天期、90天期、 180天期之次級市場的利率風險， 以了解利用國外利率期貨交叉規國內商業本票現貨利率風險的績效及不同 的避險期間與不同的避險比例對避險績效的影響。本研究之採樣期間 自1989年 1月至1992年10月底，並分為兩部份進行實證，一為整體樣本測 試避險模式、另一為樣本外交叉避險模式，且修正自身相關現象。 根據 實證結果，可以得到以下的結論與發現：1.在整體樣本測試交叉避模式之 自身相關迴歸分析中，當避險期間愈長時，則避險績效愈好。2.在樣本外 測試交叉避險模式--最適避險模式之價差迴歸分析與自身相關迴歸分析中 ，可以發現三種商業本票的交叉避險績效均以避險期間較短者擁有較好的 交叉避險績效。3.在樣本外測試交叉避險模式中，所有商業本票不論何種 避險期間，自然避險模式的交叉避險績效均比最適避險模式為差。4.在樣 本外測試交叉避 險模式--最適避險模式之價差迴歸分析與自身相關迴歸 分析中，可以發現所有商業本票，在單一期貨組合的交叉避險績效大致上 皆高於其他期貨組合的交叉避險績效，因此，在從事避險操作時，基於時 間及交易成本的考量，以單一期貨組合從事避險操作較為有利。

This doctoral thesis is a collection of four papers on the analysis of the term structure of interest rates with a focus at the intersection of macroeconomics and finance. "Risk in Macroeconomic Fundamentals and Bond Return Predictability" documents that factors related to risks underlying the macroeconomy such as expectations, uncertainty and downside (upside) macroeconomic risks are able to explain variation in bond risk premia. The information provided is found to be, to a large extent, unrelated to that contained in forward rates and current macroeconomic conditions. "Out-of-sample bond excess returns predictability" provides evidence that macroeconomic variables, risks in macroeconomic outcomes as well as the combination of these different sources of information are able to generate statistical as well as economic bond excess returns predictability in an out-of-sample setting. Results suggest that this finding is not driven by revisions in macroeconomic data. The term spread (yield curve slope) is largely used as an indicator of future economic activity. "Re-examining the predictive power of the yield curve with quantile regression" provides new evidence on the predictive ability of the term spread by studying the whole conditional distribution of GDP growth. "Modeling and forecasting the yield curve by extended Nelson-Siegel class of models: a quantile regression approach" deals with yield curve prediction. More flexible Nelson-Siegel models are found to provide better fitting to the data, even when penalizing for additional model complexity. For the forecasting exercise, quantile-based models are found to overcome all competitors. / <p>Diss. Stockholm :  Stockholm School of Economics, 2014. Introduction together with 4 papers.</p>

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No. of bitstreams: 1 MPFE_EduardoMello.pdf: 1511130 bytes, checksum: ee2bf1cdb611b05a4c962200c29ff28f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-01-30 / Este estudo investiga o poder preditivo fora da amostra, um mês à frente, de um modelo baseado na regra de Taylor para previsão de taxas de câmbio. Revisamos trabalhos relevantes que concluem que modelos macroeconômicos podem explicar a taxa de câmbio de curto prazo. Também apresentamos estudos que são céticos em relação à capacidade de variáveis macroeconômicas preverem as variações cambiais. Para contribuir com o tema, este trabalho apresenta sua própria evidência através da implementação do modelo que demonstrou o melhor resultado preditivo descrito por Molodtsova e Papell (2009), o 'symmetric Taylor rule model with heterogeneous coefficients, smoothing, and a constant'. Para isso, utilizamos uma amostra de 14 moedas em relação ao dólar norte-americano que permitiu a geração de previsões mensais fora da amostra de janeiro de 2000 até março de 2014. Assim como o critério adotado por Galimberti e Moura (2012), focamos em países que adotaram o regime de câmbio flutuante e metas de inflação, porém escolhemos moedas de países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento. Os resultados da nossa pesquisa corroboram o estudo de Rogoff e Stavrakeva (2008), ao constatar que a conclusão da previsibilidade da taxa de câmbio depende do teste estatístico adotado, sendo necessária a adoção de testes robustos e rigorosos para adequada avaliação do modelo. Após constatar não ser possível afirmar que o modelo implementado provém previsões mais precisas do que as de um passeio aleatório, avaliamos se, pelo menos, o modelo é capaz de gerar previsões 'racionais', ou 'consistentes'. Para isso, usamos o arcabouço teórico e instrumental definido e implementado por Cheung e Chinn (1998) e concluímos que as previsões oriundas do modelo de regra de Taylor são 'inconsistentes'. Finalmente, realizamos testes de causalidade de Granger com o intuito de verificar se os valores defasados dos retornos previstos pelo modelo estrutural explicam os valores contemporâneos observados. Apuramos que o modelo fundamental é incapaz de antecipar os retornos realizados. / This study investigates whether a Taylor rule-based model provides short-term, one-month-ahead, out-of-sample exchange-rate predictability. We review important research that concludes that macroeconomic models are able to forecast exchange rates over short horizons. We also present studies that are skeptical about the forecast predictability of exchange rates with fundamental models. In order to provide our own evidence and contribution to the discussion, we implement the model that presents the strongest results in Molodtsova and Papell’s (2009) influential paper, the 'symmetric Taylor rule model with heterogeneous coefficients, smoothing, and a constant.' We use a sample of 14 currencies vis-à-vis the US dollar to make out-of-sample monthly forecasts from January 2000 to March 2014. As with the work of Galimberti and Moura (2012), we focus on free-floating exchange rate and inflation-targeting economies, but we use a sample of both developed and developing countries. In line with Rogoff and Stavrakeva (2008), we find that the conclusion about a model’s out-of-sample exchange-rate forecast capability largely depends on the test statistics used: it is necessary to use stringent and robust test statistics to properly evaluate the model. After concluding that it is not possible to claim that the forecasts of the implemented model are more accurate than those of a random walk, we inquire as to whether the fundamental model is at least capable of providing 'rational,' or 'consistent,' predictions. To test this, we adopt the theoretical and procedural framework laid out by Cheung and Chinn (1998). We find that the implemented Taylor rule model’s forecasts do not meet the 'consistent' criteria. Finally, we implement Granger causality tests to verify whether lagged predicted returns are able to partially explain, or anticipate, the actual returns. Once again, the performance of the structural model disappoints, and we are unable to confirm that the lagged forecasted returns antedate the actual returns.