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ECON3371
Financial Econometrics
SUMMATIVE ASSIGNMENT
PART A: Simultaneous equations and 2SLS regression In this part of the assignment, you will examine the relationship between stock market returns and inflation. 1. Provide an explanation from the literature for why the relationship between stock market returns and inflation can be simultaneous. [5 marks]
Complete the exercises below by downloading ‘summ_assig_data_A.xlsx’ file. It contains data on 10 variables: sp_500, cpi, aaa10y, baa10y, tb3ms, tb10y, con_credit, ind_prod, usd_index and m1_money. The data are monthly and cover a 20-year period from August 2001 until July 2021 inclusive. The definitions of the variables are provided in the worksheet ‘description’ in the same .xlsx file.
Upload the above-mentioned datafile into Eviews and construct all the variables defined in the box below (you will need these later to estimate equations 1 and 2). • Stock market returns = ln ( sp_500 sp_500−1 ) ∗ 100 • Inflation rate = ln (
−1 ) ∗ 100 • Change in industrial production ∆ = ind_prod − ind_prod−1 • Change in consumer credit ∆ = con_credit − con_credit−1 • Change in money supply ∆ = m1_money − m1_money−1 • Change in US Dollar Index ∆ = usd_index − usd_index−1 • Change in corporate bond spread ∆ = (baa10y – aaa10y) − (baa10y−1 – aaa10y−1) • Change in term premium ∆ = (tb10y – tb3ms) − (tb10y−1 – tb3ms−1)
Due to simultaneous relationship between and that you have discussed above, it is not possible to validly estimate the model by directly applying OLS separately to each of the equations (the OLS estimates will be biased). Estimate the model using 2SLS method. Report your results and interpret them: comment on the sign, size and significance of the coefficients. [7 marks]
3. Do your instruments (the lists of instruments in this case) satisfy two instrument validity conditions: relevance and exogeneity? [7 marks]
4. Conduct the Hausman test for endogeneity of stock returns and inflation. Based on your results, was it justified to employ 2SLS methodology rather than OLS? [7 marks]
5. Are equations 1 and 2 identified? Explain your answer. Was it possible to use ILS instead of 2SLS? [4 marks]
PART B: Cointegration of exchange rates In this part you will consider several major currencies and test for cointegration among them. While values of various countries’ currencies are affected by fundamentals of those countries, there are also some common trends that shape the long-term relationships across different exchange rates. You will explore those long-term relationships here using two techniques: Engle-Granger and Johansen tests.
Download the file ‘summ_assig_data_B.xlsx’ that contains data on five nominal daily exchange rates: the Canadian Dollar (CAD), Swiss Franc (CHF), Euro (EUR), British Pound (GBP) and Japanese Yen (JPY), all relative to the US Dollar, over the 9-year time interval from October 2012 until September 2021 inclusive. (Take natural logarithms of exchange rates before proceeding with the exercises.)
1. Conduct Engle-Granger cointegration test pairwise for all potential pairs of five given exchange rates (at 10% significance level). Report and interpret the results. Is there evidence of cointegration among any pair of exchange rates?
Note: For the series to be cointegrated each of them needs to satisfy specific requirements. To answer this question, conduct all necessary tests to check whether the individual series satisfy those requirements prior to running the cointegration test. [10 marks] ECON3371 Financial Econometrics Undergraduate Programmes 2021/22
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2. Briefly explain the main limitation(s) of Engle-Granger test and how Johansen test resolves it. [2 marks]
3. Conduct Johansen cointegration test for all five exchange rates (specifications for the test: linear deterministic trend, 2 lags, 10% significance level). Report the test results both based on the (1) trace and (2) maximum eigenvalue test statistics and discuss (specifically: is there evidence of cointegration? if yes, how many cointegrating relationships are there?). Are there any contradictions in results (1) and (2)? [8 marks]
PART C: Modelling and forecasting stationary time series Suppose that you are a portfolio manager holding an equally-weighted portfolio consisting of the 3 stock indices. The aim of this project is to examine the return characteristics of this stock index portfolio. Collect the closing daily prices of the 3 stock indices for the past 10 years from Datastream. To summarise the data: • Provide the names of the stock indices you have chosen to hold in your portfolio, with their DataStream IDs. • In the Appendix, plot the time series of the prices for the 3 stock indices.
Answer ALL of the following questions: 1. Choose an in-sample period and estimate the best-fit time series model for the mean and variance process for your stock index portfolio returns. Carefully discuss the procedure you have adopted to obtain the best model and interpret your results. You can compare your modelling results with relevant academic research articles. [20 marks] 2. Perform out-of-sample forecasting of your index portfolio returns: o Using the best mean and variance model specifications obtained from Question 1, forecast the mean and the variance process. o Explain how you have produced the out-of-sample mean and variance forecasts and what assumptions you have made. o As an illustration, show mathematically how the forecasts are calculated for a few steps ahead and compare it with the forecasts generated by Eviews. [20 marks]
3. Evaluate the forecast performance of your best mean and variance model against a naïve benchmark model (such as the random walk). Use appropriate forecast evaluation measures to assess the accuracy of your mean and variance forecasts. Interpret the significance of your results from the perspective of a portfolio manager who hold stock indices. [10 marks]
Overall word limit: 4500
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Your completed assignment must be uploaded to Ultra no later than 12:00 midday on 25 April 2022.
A penalty will be applied for work uploaded after 12:00 midday as detailed in the Programme Handbook. You must leave sufficient time to fully complete the upload process before the deadline and check that you have received a receipt. At peak periods, it can take up to 30 minutes for a receipt to be generated.
Assignments should be typed, using 1.5 spacing and an easy-to-read 12-point font. Assignments and dissertations/business projects must not exceed the word count indicated in the module handbook/assessment brief. The word count should: ▪ Include all the text, including title, preface, introduction, in-text citations, quotations, footnotes and any other items not specifically excluded below. ▪ Exclude diagrams, tables (including tables/lists of contents and figures), equations, executive summary/abstract, acknowledgements, declaration, bibliography/list of references and appendices. However, it is not appropriate to use diagrams or tables merely as a way of circumventing the word limit. If a student uses a table or figure as a means of presenting his/her own words, then this is included in the word count. Examiners will stop reading once the word limit has been reached, and work beyond this point will not be assessed. Checks of word counts will be carried out on submitted work, including any assignments or dissertations/business projects that appear to be clearly over-length. Checks may take place manually and/or with the aid of the word count provided via an electronic submission. Where a student has intentionally ECON3371 Financial Econometrics Undergraduate Programmes 2021/22
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misrepresented their word count, the School may treat this as an offence under Section IV of the General Regulations of the University. Extreme cases may be viewed as dishonest practice under Section IV, 5 (a) (x) of the General Regulations. Very occasionally it may be appropriate to present, in an appendix, material which does not properly belong in the main body of the assessment but which some students wish to provide for the sake of completeness. Any appendices will not have a role in the assessment - examiners are under no obligation to read appendices and they do not form part of the word count. Material that students wish to be assessed should always be included in the main body of the text. Guidance on referencing can be found in the programme handbook and on Ultra.
MARKING GUIDELINES Performance in the summative assessment for this module is judged against the following criteria: • Relevance to question(s) • Organisation, structure and presentation • Depth of understanding • Analysis and discussion • Use of sources and referencing • Overall conclusions
PLAGIARISM AND COLLUSION Students suspected of plagiarism, either of published work or the work of other students, or of collusion will be dealt with according to School and University guidelines.