infonet-economy

We study the transmission of changes in the believed location of the lower bound to longterm interest rates since the introduction of negative interest rate policies. The expectations hypothesis of the term structure combined with a lower bound on policy rates suggests that the transmission of policy rate changes to long-term interest rates is reduced when policy rates approach this…

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is putting its calculated and published exchange rate indices on a new footing. This article describes the construction elements of the SNB's new exchange rate index, and presents the results of the new index calculation. The key aspects of the revision are: the application of the weighting method used by the IMF, which takes into account so-called third…

Second moments of asset returns are important for risk management and portfolio selection. The problem of estimating second moments can be approached from two angles: time series and the cross-section. In time series, the key is to account for conditional heteroskedasticity; a favored model is Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC), derived from the ARCH/GARCH family started by Engle…

When land regulations are binding, then the land price per m2 is determined by the attractiveness of the location and the restrictiveness of the regulation. In the case of a maximum oor area ratio (FARmax) restriction, the best use land price can be directly expressed as a function of the FARmax and local amenities. We show theoretically and empirically how this approach can be used…

Obesity and weight gain are severe complications of mental illness, especially schizophrenia. They result from changes in lifestyle and nutrition, side effects of medication and other, less well-understood factors. Recent studies suggest that obesity and weight gain are linked to psychopathology. Specifically, severe psychopathology is associated with greater weight dysregulation,…

Almost all important decisions in people’s lives entail risky consequences. Some of these decisions involve events that materialize with a low probability but lead to extreme consequences such as loss of total wealth or accidental death. When facing such rare extreme events, people display considerable risk aversion in some situations whereas in others the opposite is the case. For…

Almost all important decisions in people’s lives entail risky consequences. Some of these decisions involve events that materialize with a low probability but lead to extreme consequences such as loss of total wealth or accidental death. When facing such rare extreme events, people display considerable risk aversion in some situations whereas in others the opposite is the case. For…

This paper estimates peer effects in a university context where students are randomly assigned to sections. While students benefit from better peers on average, low-achieving students are harmed by high-achieving peers. Analyzing students’ course evaluations suggests that peer effects are driven by improved group interaction rather than adjustments in teachers’ behavior or students’…

Einkommensungleichheiten führen zu einer ungleichen Verteilung der meisten auf dem Markt käuflichen Güter. Es ist allerdings unklar, wie sich das Einkommen auf den Konsum von sozialen Gütern wie Freundetreffen oder Vereinsaktivitäten auswirkt. Marktgüter und Sozialgüter unterscheiden sich konzeptuell, indem der Konsum Ersterer vor allem Geld, der Konsum Letzterer hingegen vor allem…