Capital Management in a Stochastic Earnings Framework. Many large Australian firms have on-going capital management programs. These programs are aimed at ensuring that the firm maintains an optimal capital structure. This is often done according to rules of thumb or benchmarked against a few financial ratios. To the extent that more rigor can be introduced into the analysis of optimal capital structure, there is a clear benefit to Australian firms. Of course, the reason firms engage in capit ....Capital Management in a Stochastic Earnings Framework. Many large Australian firms have on-going capital management programs. These programs are aimed at ensuring that the firm maintains an optimal capital structure. This is often done according to rules of thumb or benchmarked against a few financial ratios. To the extent that more rigor can be introduced into the analysis of optimal capital structure, there is a clear benefit to Australian firms. Of course, the reason firms engage in capital management initiatives in the first place is to lower their cost of capital and to increase value. Any initiative that lowers the cost of capital of Australian firms will result in increased productivity and economic growth.Read moreRead less
Measuring the Effects of Interest Rate Volatility. Interest rate changes have important implications for highly influential macroeconomic variables and, for the investor, have direct implications for asset prices, net worth and future wealth. By considering unresearched areas concerning the behaviour and influence of interest rates our research will be of interest to an academic audience, government, regulators and market practitioners. Attention to Australia, the US and Asia means that the rese ....Measuring the Effects of Interest Rate Volatility. Interest rate changes have important implications for highly influential macroeconomic variables and, for the investor, have direct implications for asset prices, net worth and future wealth. By considering unresearched areas concerning the behaviour and influence of interest rates our research will be of interest to an academic audience, government, regulators and market practitioners. Attention to Australia, the US and Asia means that the research will be directly relevant to Australian decision-makers. Further, the project will yield papers for publication in top international journals, reinforcing Australia's reputation as a leading centre for financial research and enhance it's reputation for cutting-edge work.Read moreRead less
Asset Pricing, Signal Type and Overconfident Investors. Recent bubbles in financial markets and other anxieties with regard to whether financial assets are correctly valued have led to a reduction in the confidence in financial markets. This study, by focussing upon potential biases in the price formation process, will provide strong insights into this important topic. In covering three major equity markets, the project will provide important guidance for the design of regulatory policies on c ....Asset Pricing, Signal Type and Overconfident Investors. Recent bubbles in financial markets and other anxieties with regard to whether financial assets are correctly valued have led to a reduction in the confidence in financial markets. This study, by focussing upon potential biases in the price formation process, will provide strong insights into this important topic. In covering three major equity markets, the project will provide important guidance for the design of regulatory policies on corporate disclosure by both Governments and Stock Exchanges. Given the increased need for funded superannuation/pension schemes, an increase in the confidence in capital market processes will benefit the development of successful funded schemes.Read moreRead less
A Complex Systems Approach to Modelling Time-Varying Risk in the Presence of Market Frictions. Risk and return are two fundamental variables underlying all business decisions. Risk is difficult to measure - potentially leading to sub-optimal outcomes needlessly wasting $millions. This project focuses on two important data problems in risk measurement - thin trading and price limits - applying a complex systems approach. Specifically, we develop a new time varying risk estimator from the clas ....A Complex Systems Approach to Modelling Time-Varying Risk in the Presence of Market Frictions. Risk and return are two fundamental variables underlying all business decisions. Risk is difficult to measure - potentially leading to sub-optimal outcomes needlessly wasting $millions. This project focuses on two important data problems in risk measurement - thin trading and price limits - applying a complex systems approach. Specifically, we develop a new time varying risk estimator from the class of generalised Tobit models - popular in other areas of economics. Using data across several markets, the new risk measure will be developed, applied and compared to existing approaches. This will improve future decision-making - delivering considerable long-term economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Causes and Consequences of Short Selling for Equity Returns. Short selling involves holding negative quantities of an asset. As prices fall, the short position makes profit. Short selling is thought to reflect the market's expectation of future underperformance. This study aims to explore the determinants and consequences of short selling. In particular we aim to address the following:
1. Do short sales create excessive volatility?
2. Can we price the volatility associated with short selling i ....Causes and Consequences of Short Selling for Equity Returns. Short selling involves holding negative quantities of an asset. As prices fall, the short position makes profit. Short selling is thought to reflect the market's expectation of future underperformance. This study aims to explore the determinants and consequences of short selling. In particular we aim to address the following:
1. Do short sales create excessive volatility?
2. Can we price the volatility associated with short selling in a modern risk management framework?
3. What factors underlie the volume of short sales?
4. Should we distinguish between long and short transactions, or is gross traded volume a sufficient measure of turnover?
Read moreRead less
Fragmentation, globalization and the architecture of stock markets: How should the ASX be redesigned to ensure its long-term survival? The ASX is only at 10% of its potential relative to world best practice in architectural design. Reforms that we investigate, such as a massive reduction in the minimum tick and greater transparency to reduce asymmetric information, could lift traded value by several fold and by billions of dollars to efficiency levels achieved by South Korea and reduce trading c ....Fragmentation, globalization and the architecture of stock markets: How should the ASX be redesigned to ensure its long-term survival? The ASX is only at 10% of its potential relative to world best practice in architectural design. Reforms that we investigate, such as a massive reduction in the minimum tick and greater transparency to reduce asymmetric information, could lift traded value by several fold and by billions of dollars to efficiency levels achieved by South Korea and reduce trading costs by hundreds of millions pa. For each dollar of actual trading costs saved there is a further saving of 12 dollars in trades currently forgone. The ASX can be preserved from the threat of annihilation by a new global exchange and set up common trading platforms like Euronext in our region. The result will be more successful stocks to replace NewsCorp.Read moreRead less
Australian Costs of Equity. The goal of this project is to identify the most appropriate framework and estimation methodology for estimating the cost of equity capital for Australian firms. The outcome of the project will be the identification of precise costs of equity of all industries and exchange-listed companies in Australia. Our final product will not only attain high academic value by providing comprehensive examination of all popular asset pricing models, but will also serve as a compreh ....Australian Costs of Equity. The goal of this project is to identify the most appropriate framework and estimation methodology for estimating the cost of equity capital for Australian firms. The outcome of the project will be the identification of precise costs of equity of all industries and exchange-listed companies in Australia. Our final product will not only attain high academic value by providing comprehensive examination of all popular asset pricing models, but will also serve as a comprehensive benchmarking tool for all investment decisions (both corporate and government) in Australia. This will bring about economic efficiency and benefits to the business community via more accurate valuation of assets and more appropriate evaluation of potential new projects.Read moreRead less
A New Approach to Information-Based Securities Trading. This project develops and tests a new approach to information-based securities trading, which can effectively describe trading dynamics and accurately measure the effects of information impounded in price and trading activities. It aims to provide a novel and practical framework for studying information asymmetry, belief heterogeneity and asset pricing, and apply the new approach to address a series of financial issues. The project will mak ....A New Approach to Information-Based Securities Trading. This project develops and tests a new approach to information-based securities trading, which can effectively describe trading dynamics and accurately measure the effects of information impounded in price and trading activities. It aims to provide a novel and practical framework for studying information asymmetry, belief heterogeneity and asset pricing, and apply the new approach to address a series of financial issues. The project will make significant contributions to finance research by shedding new insights on market dynamics and creating a new stream of models and modelling techniques. Academics, practitioners and regulators can use the new approach to better analyse the Australian financial market and improve its efficiency.Read moreRead less
The Modelling and Assessment of Credit Default Risk. This project will deliver an enhanced set of methodologies for the quantification and management of credit default risk. These outcomes will benefit researchers both in academia and in Australian financial institutions as research into credit risk has been active in recent years, due to the impending adoption by financial institutions of the Basel II accord on risk assessment. The outcomes will provide a strong academic methodology applied to ....The Modelling and Assessment of Credit Default Risk. This project will deliver an enhanced set of methodologies for the quantification and management of credit default risk. These outcomes will benefit researchers both in academia and in Australian financial institutions as research into credit risk has been active in recent years, due to the impending adoption by financial institutions of the Basel II accord on risk assessment. The outcomes will provide a strong academic methodology applied to credit default risk by Australian financial institutions and the Australian financial regulator. This research has the potential to enhance the competitivemess of Australia's financial sector.Read moreRead less
Modelling multivariate financial time series using copulas. What are the chances that the losses in the market value of investments exceed the anticipated levels? Given that one country's financial market collapsed, what are the chances that it would lead to financial crises in other countries? These questions often arise in risk management and international finance. This project takes a significant step forward from the existing literature to develop new flexible and innovative methods to an ....Modelling multivariate financial time series using copulas. What are the chances that the losses in the market value of investments exceed the anticipated levels? Given that one country's financial market collapsed, what are the chances that it would lead to financial crises in other countries? These questions often arise in risk management and international finance. This project takes a significant step forward from the existing literature to develop new flexible and innovative methods to answer the foregoing type of questions. Further, this project proposes new measures of market risks that are suitable for communicating to the broader public as well as the experts.Read moreRead less