International Risk Sharing is Better Than You Think (or Exchange Rates are Much Too Smooth)
(392 K)
|
NBER Working Paper No. 8404
Issued in July 2001
NBER Program(s): AP IFM
Exchange rates depreciate by the difference between the domestic and foreign marginal utility growths. Exchange rates vary a lot , as much as 10% per year. However, equity premia imply that marginal utility growths vary much more, by at least 50% per year. This means that marginal utility growths must be highly correlated across countries -- international risk sharing is better than you think. Conversely, if risks really are not shared internationally, exchange rates should vary more than they do -- exchange rates are much too smooth. We calculate an index of international risk sharing that formalizes this intuition in the context of both complete and incomplete capital markets. Our results suggest that risk sharing is indeed very high across several pairs of countries.
Published: Brandt, Michael W., John H. Cochrane and Pedro Santa-Clara. "International Risk Sharing Is Better Than You Think, Or Exchange Rates Are Too Smooth," Journal of Monetary Economics, 2006, v53(4,May), 671-698.
This paper is available as PDF (392 K) or via email.
Machine-readable bibliographic record -
MARC,
RIS,
BibTeX
|
|
|
About
Support
The research activities of the NBER are funded by grants from federal research agencies, by private foundations, and by generous donations from our corporate associates and from private individuals. The NBER is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. For information on supporting the NBER, please contact:
Mr. Denis Healy, Director of Development
NBER
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138-5398
ph: 617-868-3900
email: dhealy@nber.org
Close
