Advanced Stochastic Models, Risk Assessment, and Portfolio Optimization

The finance industry is seeing increased interest in new risk measures and techniques for portfolio optimization when parameters of the model are uncertain.

This groundbreaking book extends traditional approaches of risk measurement and portfolio optimization by combining distributional models with risk or performance measures into one framework. Throughout these pages, the expert authors explain the fundamentals of probability metrics, outline new approaches to portfolio optimization, and discuss a variety of essential risk measures. Using numerous examples, they illustrate a range of applications to optimal portfolio choice and risk theory, as well as applications to the area of computational finance that may be useful to financial engineers. They also clearly show how stochastic models, risk assessment, and optimization are essential to mastering risk, uncertainty, and performance measurement.

Advanced Stochastic Models, Risk Assessment, and Portfolio Optimization provides quantitative portfolio managers (including hedge fund managers), financial engineers, consultants, and?academic researchers with answers to the key question of which risk measure is best for any given problem.

Two central problems in the pure theory of economic growth are analysed in this monograph: 1) the dynamic laws governing the economic growth processes, 2) the kinematic and geometric properties of the set of solutions to the dynamic systems. With allegiance to rigor and the emphasis on the theoretical fundamentals of prototype mathematical growth models, the treatise is written in the theorem-proof style. To keep the exposition orderly and as smooth as possible, the economic analysis has been separated from the purely mathematical issues, and hence the monograph is organized in two books. Regarding the scope and content of the two books, an "Introduction and Over view" has been prepared to offer both motivation and a brief account. The introduc tion is especially designed to give a recapitulation of the mathematical theory and results presented in Book II, which are used as the unifying mathematical framework in the analysis and exposition of the different economic growth models in Book I. Economists would probably prefer to go directly to Book I and proceed by consult ing the mathematical theorems of Book II in confirming the economic theorems in Book I. Thereby, both the independence and interdependence of the economic and mathematical argumentations are respected.

Over the last decade or so, applied general equilibrium models have rapidly become a major tool for policy advice on issues regarding allocation and efficiency, most notably taxes and tariffs. This reflects the power of the general equilibrium approach to allocative questions and the capability of today's applied models to come up with realistic answers. However, it by no means implies that the theoretical, practical and empirical problems faced by researchers in applied modelling have all been solved in a satisfactory way. Rather, a promising field of research has been opened up, inviting theorists and practitioners to further explore and exploit its potential. The state of the art in applied general equilibrium modelling is reflected in this volume. The introductory Chapter (Part I) evaluates the use of economic modelling to address policy questions, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of applied general equilibrium models. Three substantive issues are dealt with in Chapters 2-8: Tax Reform and Capital (Part II), Intertemporal Aspects and Expectations (Part III), and Taxes and the Labour Market (Part IV). While all parts contain results relevant for economic policy, it is clear that theory and applications for these areas are in different stages of development. We hope that this book will bring inspiration, insight and information to researchers, students and policy advisors.

This book deals with a number of mathematical topics that are of great importance in the study of classical econometrics. There is a lengthy chapter on matrix algebra, which takes the reader from the most elementary aspects to the partitioned inverses, characteristic roots and vectors, symmetric, and orthogonal and positive (semi) definite matrices. The book also covers pseudo-inverses, solutions to systems of linear equations, solutions of vector difference equations with constant coefficients and random forcing functions, matrix differentiation, and permutation matrices. Its novel features include an introduction to asymptotic expansions, and examples of applications to the general-linear model (regression) and the general linear structural econometric model (simultaneous equations).

This trusted textbook returns in its 4th edition with even more exercises to help consolidate understanding - and a companion website featuring additional materials, including a solutions manual for instructors. Offering a unique blend of theory and practical application, it provides ideal preparation for doing applied econometric work as it takes students from a basic level up to an advanced understanding in an intuitive, step-by-step fashion. Clear presentation of economic tests and methods of estimation is paired with practical guidance on using several types of software packages. Using real world data throughout, the authors place emphasis upon the interpretation of results, and the conclusions to be drawn from them in econometric work. This book will be essential reading for economics undergraduate and master's students taking a course in applied econometrics. Its practical nature makes it ideal for modules requiring a research project. New to this Edition: - Additional practical exercises throughout to help consolidate understanding - A freshly-updated companion website featuring a new solutions manual for instructors

This is an unusual book because it contains a great deal of formulas. Hence it is a blend of monograph, textbook, and handbook.It is intended for students and researchers who need quick access to useful formulas appearing in the linear regression model and related matrix theory. This is not a regular textbook - this is supporting material for courses given in linear statistical models. Such courses are extremely common at universities with quantitative statistical analysis programs."

A lot of economic problems can be formulated as constrained optimizations and equilibration of their solutions. Various mathematical theories have been supplying economists with indispensable machineries for these problems arising in economic theory. Conversely, mathematicians have been stimulated by various mathematical difficulties raised by economic theories. The series is designed to bring together those mathematicians who are seriously interested in getting new challenging stimuli from economic theories with those economists who are seeking effective mathematical tools for their research.

Swaps, futures, options, structured instruments - a wide range of derivative products is traded in today's financial markets. Analyzing, pricing and managing such products often requires fairly sophisticated quantitative tools and methods. This book serves as an introduction to financial mathematics with special emphasis on aspects relevant in practice. In addition to numerous illustrative examples, algorithmic implementations are demonstrated using "Mathematica" and the software package "UnRisk" (available for both students and teachers). The content is organized in 15 chapters that can be treated as independent modules.

In particular, the exposition is tailored for classroom use in a Bachelor or Master program course, as well as for practitioners who wish to further strengthen their quantitative background.

Macroeconomic Modelling has undergone radical changes in the last few years. There has been considerable innovation in developing robust solution techniques for the new breed of increasingly complex models. Similarly there has been a growing consensus on their long run and dynamic properties, as well as much development on existing themes such as modelling expectations and policy rules. This edited volume focuses on those areas which have undergone the most significant and imaginative developments and brings together the very best of modelling practice. We include specific sections on (I) Solving Large Macroeconomic Models, (II) Rational Expectations and Learning Approaches, (III) Macro Dynamics, and (IV) Long Run and Closures. All of the contributions offer new research whilst putting their developments firmly in context and as such will influence much future research in the area. It will be an invaluable text for those in policy institutions as well as academics and advanced students in the fields of economics, mathematics, business and government. Our contributors include those working in central banks, the IMF, European Commission and established academics.

The editors bring together examples of microsimulation modeling that are at the frontiers of developments in the field, either because they extend the range of techniques available to modelers, or because they demonstrate new applications for established methods. This volume represents the state of the art with chapters on the use of microsimulation for comparative policy research and for challenging conventional assumptions, combining microsimulation with other types of economic models and the much-neglected subjects of model alignment and validation. Data and case studies are taken from regions including Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America.

The manuscript reviews some key ideas about artificial intelligence, and relates them to economics. These include its relation to robotics, and the concepts of synthetic emotions, consciousness, and life. The economic implications of the advent of artificial intelligence, such as its effect on prices and wages, appropriate patent policy, and the possibility of accelerating productivity, are discussed. The growing field of artificial economics and the use of artificial agents in experimental economics is considered.

In production and service sectors we often come across situations where females remain largely overshadowed by males both in terms of wages and productivity. Men are generally assigned jobs that require more physical work while the 'less' strenuous job is allocated to the females. However, the gender dimension of labor process in the service sector in India has remained relatively unexplored. There are certain activities in the service sector where females are more suitable than males. The service sector activities are usually divided into OAE and Establishments. In this work, an attempt has been made to segregate the productivity of females compared to that of males on the basis of both partial and complete separability models. An estimate has also been made of the female labor supply function. The results present a downward trend for female participation both in Own Account Enterprises (OAE) and Establishment. The higher the female shadow wage the lower their supply. This lends support to the supposition that female labor participation is a type of "distress supply" rather than a positive indicator of women's empowerment. Analysis of the National Sample Service Organization data indicates that in all the sectors women are generally paid less than men. A micro-econometric study reveals that even in firms that employ solely female labor, incidence of full-time labor is deplorably poor. It is this feature that results in women workers' lower earnings and their deprivation.

This volume is centered around the issue of market design and resulting market dynamics. The economic crisis of 2007-2009 has once again highlighted the importance of a proper design of market protocols and institutional details for economic dynamics and macroeconomics. Papers in this volume capture institutional details of particular markets, behavioral details of agents' decision making as well as spillovers between markets and effects to the macroeconomy. Computational methods are used to replicate and understand market dynamics emerging from interaction of heterogeneous agents, and to develop models that have predictive power for complex market dynamics. Finally treatments of overlapping generations models and differential games with heterogeneous actors are provided.

This is an introduction to time series that emphasizes methods and analysis of data sets. The logic and tools of model-building for stationary and non-stationary time series are developed and numerous exercises, many of which make use of the included computer package, provide the reader with ample opportunity to develop skills. Statisticians and students will learn the latest methods in time series and forecasting, along with modern computational models and algorithms.

KE is applied to the four major equating designs and to both Chain Equating and Post-Stratification Equating for the Non-Equivalent groups with Anchor Test Design. It will be an important reference for several groups: (a) Statisticians (b) Practitioners and (c) Instructors in psychometric and measurement programs. The authors assume some familiarity with linear and equipercentile test equating, and with matrix algebra.

A lot of economic problems can be formulated as constrained optimizations and equilibration of their solutions. Various mathematical theories have been supplying economists with indispensable machineries for these problems arising in economic theory. Conversely, mathematicians have been stimulated by various mathematical difficulties raised by economic theories. The series is designed to bring together those mathematicians who are seriously interested in getting new challenging stimuli from economic theories with those economists who are seeking effective mathematical tools for their research.

From Catastrophe to Chaos: A General Theory of Economic Discontinuities presents and unusual perspective on economics and economic analysis. Current economic theory largely depends upon assuming that the world is fundamentally continuous. However, an increasing amount of economic research has been done using approaches that allow for discontinuities such as catastrophe theory, chaos theory, synergetics, and fractal geometry. The spread of such approaches across a variety of disciplines of thought has constituted a virtual intellectual revolution in recent years. This book reviews the applications of these approaches in various subdisciplines of economics and draws upon past economic thinkers to develop an integrated view of economics as a whole from the perspective of inherent discontinuity.

1 DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was initially developed as a method for assessing the comparative efficiencies of organisational units such as the branches of a bank, schools, hospital departments or restaurants. The key in each case is that they perform feature which makes the units comparable the same function in terms of the kinds of resource they use and the types of output they produce. For example all bank branches to be compared would typically use staff and capital assets to effect income generating activities such as advancing loans, selling financial products and carrying out banking transactions on behalf of their clients. The efficiencies assessed in this context by DEA are intended to reflect the scope for resource conservation at the unit being assessed without detriment to its outputs, or alternatively, the scope for output augmentation without additional resources. The efficiencies assessed are comparative or relative because they reflect scope for resource conservation or output augmentation at one unit relative to other comparable benchmark units rather than in some absolute sense. We resort to relative rather than absolute efficiencies because in most practical contexts we lack sufficient information to derive the superior measures of absolute efficiency. DEA was initiated by Charnes Cooper and Rhodes in 1978 in their seminal paper Chames et al. (1978). The paper operationalised and extended by means of linear programming production economics concepts of empirical efficiency put forth some twenty years earlier by Farrell (1957).

Studies in Global Econometrics is a collection of essays on the use of cross-country data based on purchasing power parities. The two major applications are the development over time of per capital gross domestic products, (including that of their inequalities among countries and regions) and the fitting of cross-country demand equations for broad groups of consumer goods. The introductory chapter provides highlights of the author's work as relating to these developments. One of the main topics of the work is a system of demand equations for broad groups of consumer goods fitted by means of cross-country data. These data are from the International Comparison Program, which provides PPP-based figures for a number of years and countries. Similar data are used for the measurement of the dispersion of national per capita incomes between and within seven geographic regions.

Game Theory has provided an extremely useful tool in enabling economists to venture into unknown areas. Its concepts of conflict and cooperation apply whenever the actions of several agents are interdependent; providing language to formulate as well as to structure, analyze, and understand strategic scenarios. Economic Behavior, Game Theory, and Technology in Emerging Markets explores game theory and its deep impact in developmental economics, specifically the manner in which it provides a way of formalizing institutions. This is particularly important for emerging economies which have not yet received much attention in the academic world. This publication is useful for academics, professors, and researchers in this field, but it has also been compiled to meet the needs of non-specialists as well.

Monetary Policy and the Economy in South Africa covers both modern theories and empirical analysis, linking monetary policy with relating house wealth, drivers of current account based on asset approach, expenditure switching and income absorption effects of monetary policy on trade balance, effects of inflation uncertainty on output growth and international spill overs. Each chapter uses data and relevant methodology to answer empirical and pertinent policy questions in South Africa. The book gives new insights into understanding these areas of economic policy and the wider emerging-markets.

The book proposes an overview of the research conducted to date in the field of wine economics. All of these contributions have in common the use of econometric techniques and mathematical formalization to describe the new challenges of this economic sector.

This volume seeks to go beyond the microeconomic view of wages as a cost having negative consequences on a given firm, to consider the positive macroeconomic dynamics associated with wages as a major component of aggregate demand.

This book develops the major themes of time series analysis from its formal beginnings in the early part of the 20th century to the present day through the research of six distinguished British statisticians, all of whose work is characterised by the British traits of pragmatism and the desire to solve practical problems of importance.

Each chapter of Macroeconometrics is written by respected econometricians in order to provide useful information and perspectives for those who wish to apply econometrics in macroeconomics. The chapters are all written with clear methodological perspectives, making the virtues and limitations of particular econometric approaches accessible to a general readership familiar with applied macroeconomics. The real tensions in macroeconometrics are revealed by the critical comments from different econometricians, having an alternative perspective, which follow each chapter.