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Social Science > Demography

You are looking at 1 - 5 of 5 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • International Financial Markets x
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Cover IMF Working Papers
Foreign Demand and Local House Prices: Evidence from the US
Mr. Damien Puy
,
Mr. Anil Ari
, and
Ms. Yu Shi
We test whether foreign demand matters for local house prices in the US using an identification strategy based on the existence of “home bias abroad” in international real estate markets. Following an extreme political crisis event abroad, a proxy for a strong and exogenous shift in foreign demand, we show that house prices rise disproportionately more in neighbourhoods with a high concentration of population originating from the crisis country. This effect is strong, persistent, and robust to the exclusion of major cities. We also show that areas that were already expensive in the late 1990s have experienced the strongest foreign demand shocks and the biggest drop in affordability between 2000 and 2017. Our findings suggest a non-trivial causal effect of foreign demand shocks on local house prices over the last 20 years, especially in neighbourhoods that were already rather unaffordable for the median household.
Keywords:
WP; time series; house price; housing boom; foreign demand shocks; interaction term; housing affordability; Housing prices; Foreign currency exposure; Housing; Real estate prices; Global; House Prices; Political Risk; Capital Flows
Cover IMF Working Papers
Financial Constraints, Intangible Assets, and Firm Dynamics: Theory and Evidence
Sophia Chen
I study whether firms' reliance on intangible assets is an important determinant of financing constraints. I construct new measures of firm-level physical and intangible assets using accounting information on U.S. public firms. I find that firms with a higher share of intangible assets in total assets start smaller, grow faster, and have higher Tobin’s q. Asset tangibility predicts firm dynamics and Tobin’s q up to 30 years but has diminishing predicative power. I develop a model of endogenous financial constraints in which firm size and value are limited by the enforceability of financial contracts. Asset tangibility matters because physical and intangible assets differ in their residual value when the contract is repudiated. This mechanism is qualitatively important to explain stylized facts of firm dynamics and Tobin’s q.
Keywords:
WP; intangible assets; market value; Financial constraints; firm dynamics; Tobin’s q; asset tangibility; production parameter; selling; general; and administrative; entrant firm; share of intangible assets; Aging; Asset valuation; Stocks; Financial frictions
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Valuation Effects of Geographic Diversification: Evidence From U.S. Banks
Mr. Luc Laeven
,
Mr. Martin R. Goetz
, and
Mr. Ross Levine
This paper assesses the impact of the geographic diversification of bank holding company (BHC) assets across the United States on their market valuations. Using two novel identification strategies based on the dynamic process of interstate bank deregulation, we find that exogenous increases in geographic diversity reduce BHC valuations. These findings are consistent with the view that geographic diversity makes it more difficult for shareholders and creditors to monitor firm executives, allowing corporate insiders to extract larger private benefits from firms.
Keywords:
WP; BHC diversity; bank deregulation; BHC valuation; BHC assets; gravity-deregulation model; Geographic Corporate diversification; Agency problems; Economies of scope; Corporate insiders; Corporate valuation; BHC asset diversification; BHC diversification increase; Estimation techniques; Personal income; Asset valuation; Gravity models; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Aging, Asset Allocation, and Costs: Evidence for the Pension Fund Industry in Switzerland
Mr. Rene Weber
and
David S. Gerber
This paper focuses on the nexus between pension funds' balance sheet liabilities, reflecting their age profile and payments obligations, and the investment behavior and costs of these funds. The context of the analysis is the stringent regulatory framework and the highly fragmented and heterogeneous pension fund landscape in Switzerland. Detailed data from the Swiss Pension Statistic are analyzed using multivariate OLS-regressions. The evidence shows that a younger age structure and lower short-term benefits payouts are related to a higher share of equities and lower real estate holdings. Legal form, pension plan type, and size are important for administrative costs. The findings support the view that aging may lead to increased risk aversion and thus to a lower engagement of institutional investors in equities.
Keywords:
WP; asset; cost; liability; investment; ratio
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Singapore: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund
Singapore’s economic growth has been heavily dependent on factor accumulation during the past three decades. Attempts to gauge productivity growth in Singapore and other East Asian countries has led to the widely publicized debate on whether the East Asian “miracle” was driven by factor accumulation or productivity growth. According to the most recent study by the authorities, Singapore’s productivity growth was indeed very low until the 1980s, but has improved significantly to a level comparable to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average in the 1990s.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Singapore; government; economy; net; CPF member; fiscal policy; tax; Singapore's economy; CPF savings; contribution rate; productivity growth; Capital markets; Aging; Securities markets; Productivity; International capital markets; Global; Asia and Pacific; East Asia; Southeast Asia