• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.319-330
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• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the connectedness between categorical economic policy uncertainty (monetary, fiscal, trade and foreign exchange policy uncertainty) indexes and option-implied volatility index in Korea, Japan and the US. Design/methodology/approach - This paper employs the Diebold-Ylmaz (2012) model based on a VAR and generalized forecast error variance decomposition. This paper also conducts regression analyses to investigate whether the volatility indexes are explained by categorical policy uncertainty indexes. Findings - First, we find the total connectedness is stronger in Korea and Japan relative to the US. Second, monetary, fiscal, and foreign exchange policy uncertainty indexes are connected to each other but trade policy uncertainty index is not. Third, the volatility index in Japan and the US is mainly associated with monetary policy uncertainty while the volatility index in Korea is explained by fiscal policy uncertainty index. Research implications or Originality - To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the connectedness among categorical policy uncertainty indexes and the volatility index in Korea, Japan, and the US. The empirical results on the connectedness suggest that transparent policy and communication with the market in one type of policy would reduce the uncertainty in other policies.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.33-60
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• 2023

This paper analyzes the entire distribution of stock market returns/volatility in five emerging markets (ASEAN5) and figures out the conditional distribution of the CHI_EPU index. The aim is to examine the impact of CHI_EPU on the stock returns/volatility density of ASEAN5 markets. It also examined whether changes in CHI_EPU explain returns at higher or lower points (abnormal returns). This paper models the behaviour of stock returns from March 2011 to June 2018 using a non-parametric conditional density estimation approach. The results indicate that CHI_EPU diminishes stock returns and augments volatility in ASEAN5 markets, except for Malaysia, where it affects stock returns positively. The possible reason for this positive impact is that EPU is not the leading factor reducing Malaysian stock returns; but, other forces, such as dependency on other countries' stock markets and global factors, may have a positive impact on stock returns (Bachmann and Bayer, 2013). Thus, the risk of simultaneous investment in Chinese and ASEAN5 stock markets, except Malaysia, is high. Further, the degree of this influence intensifies at extreme high/low intervals (positive/negative tails). The findings of this study have significant implications for investors, policymakers, market agents, and analysts of ASEAN5.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.104-116
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• 2008

Overheated speculation areas which have high potential of becoming speculative are the target of many real estate policies. This paper proposes a model for spatial patterns of house price volatility and suggests a spatial pattern of overheated speculation areas. House prices are determined by economic behaviors of sellers and buyers who have rational or adaptive expectations. Spatial patterns of house price volatility are formed by tendencies of their economic behavior. If there is a majority of adaptive sellers and buyers in an area, it may appear as a "hotspot" by showing high volatility of house prices and simultaneous price increases. Overheated speculation areas are formed by adaptive sellers and buyers who want to realize maximum expectation profit, therefore these areas patterns are defined as hotspot patterns of price volatility.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.1-22
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• 2018

We estimate three continuous-time stochastic volatility models following the approach by Aït-Sahalia and Kimmel (2007) to compare the Korean and US stock markets. To do this, the Heston, GARCH, and CEV models are applied to the KOSPI 200 and S&P 500 Index. For the latent volatility variable, we generate and use the integrated volatility proxy using the implied volatility of short-dated at-the-money option prices. We conduct MLE in order to estimate the parameters of the stochastic volatility models. To do this we need the transition probability density function (TPDF), but the true TPDF is not available for any of the models in this paper. Therefore, the TPDFs are approximated using the irreducible method introduced in Aït-Sahalia (2008). Among three stochastic volatility models, the Heston model and the CEV model are found to be best for the Korean and US stock markets, respectively. There exist relatively strong leverage effects in both countries. Despite the fact that the long-run mean level of the integrated volatility proxy (IV) was not statistically significant in either market, the speeds of the mean reversion parameters are statistically significant and meaningful in both markets. The IV is found to return to its long-run mean value more rapidly in Korea than in the US. All parameters related to the volatility function of the IV are statistically significant. Although the volatility of the IV is more elastic in the US stock market, the volatility itself is greater in Korea than in the US over the range of the observed IV.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.3-38
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• 2015

Fama's (1984) volatility relations show that the risk premium in foreign exchange markets is more volatile than, and is negatively correlated with the expected rate of depreciation. This paper studies these relations from the perspective of goods markets frictions. Using a sticky-price general equilibrium model, we show that near-random walk behaviors of both exchange rates and consumption, in response to monetary shocks, can be derived endogenously. Based on this approach, the paper provides quantitative results on Fama's volatility relations.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.275-322
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• 2015

The key objective of this study is to investigate the return and volatility spillover effects among stock market, credit default swap (CDS) market and foreign exchange market for three countries: Korea, the US and Japan. Using the trivariate VAR BEKK GARCH (1,1) model, the study finds that there are significant return and volatility spillover effects between the Korean CDS market and the Korean stock market. In addition, the return spillover effects from foreign exchange markets and the US stock market to the Korean stock market, and the volatility spillover effect from the Japanese stock market to the Korean stock market are both significant.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.63-94
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• 2013

This study aims to understand the long-run movement of volatility in Korean stock market by decomposing stock volatility into the long-lived and the short-lived components. In addition, I analyze how the low-frequency movement of stock market volatility is related to changes in macroeconomic conditions. The volatility decomposition is made based on the GARCH-MIDAS model, in which the long-lived volatility is constructed based on the combination of realized volatilities (RVs). The results show that the long-lived volatility contains information of up to 3~4 years of past RVs. In addition, the changes in the long-lived volatility can explain about two thirds of volatility changes in the Korean stock market from 1994 to 2009. Meanwhile, the low-frequency movement in the market volatility can be related to changes in macroeconomic conditions. The analysis shows that the stock market volatility appears to be countercyclical while showing a positive correlation with the inflation. In addition, the stock market volatility tends to rise as macroeconomic uncertainty increases. These results imply that macroeconomic policies aiming at economic stabilization could contribute to reduction in the stock market volatility.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.73-79
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• 2013

Purpose - This study examines the impact of oil price volatility on economic activities in Korea. The new millennium has seen a deregulation in the crude oil market, which invited immense capital inflow into Korea. It has also raised oil price levels and volatility. Drawing on the recent theoretical literature that emphasizes the role of volatility, this paper attends to the asymmetric changes in economic growth in response to the oil price movement. This study further examines several key macroeconomic variables, such as interest rate, production, and inflation. We come to the conclusion that oil price volatility can, in some part, explain the structural changes. Research design, data, and methodology - We use two methodological frameworks in this study. First, in regards to the oil price uncertainty, we use an Exponential-GARCH (Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity: EGARCH) model estimate to elucidate the asymmetric effect of oil price shock on the conditional oil price volatility. Second, along with the estimation of the conditional volatility by the EGARCH model, we use the estimates in a VECM (Vector Error Correction Model). The study thus examines the dynamic impacts of oil price volatility on industrial production, price levels, and monetary policy responses. We also approximate the monetary policy function by the yield of monetary stabilization bond. The data collected for the study ranges from 1990: M1 to 2013: M7. In the VECM analysis section, the time span is split into two sub-periods; one from 1990 to 1999, and another from 2000 to 2013, due to the U.S. CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) deregulation on the crude oil futures that became effective in 2000. This paper intends to probe the relationship between oil price uncertainty and macroeconomic variables since the structural change in the oil market became effective. Results and Conclusions - The dynamic impulse response functions obtained from the VECM show a prolonged dampening effect of oil price volatility shock on the industrial production across all sub-periods. We also find that inflation measured by CPI rises by one standard deviation shock in response to oil price uncertainty, and lasts for the ensuing period. In addition, the impulse response functions allude that South Korea practices an expansionary monetary policy in response to oil price shocks, which stems from oil price uncertainty. Moreover, a comparison of the results of the dynamic impulse response functions from the two sub-periods suggests that the dynamic relationships have strengthened since 2000. Specifically, the results are most drastic in terms of industrial production; the impact of oil price volatility shocks has more than doubled from the year 2000 onwards. These results again indicate that the relationships between crude oil price uncertainty and Korean macroeconomic activities have been strengthened since the year2000, which resulted in a structural change in the crude oil market due to the deregulation of the crude oil futures.

• Korean Business Review
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.15-27
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• 2007

This paper analyzed the relationship between Housing Purchase Price volatility of Seoul and Housing Purchase Price volatility of local large city. Other studies investigates the effect on the observed volatility Observed volatility consists of fundamental volatility and transitory volatility. Fundamental volatility is caused by information arrival and transitory volatility is caused by noise trading. Fundamental volatility is trend component and is modelled as a random walk with drift. Transitory volatility is cyclical component and is modelled as a stationary process. In contrast to other studies, this study investigates the effect on the fundamental volatility and transitory volatility individually. Observed volatility is estimated by GJR GARCH(1,1) model. We find that GJH GARCH model is superior to GARCH model and good news is more remarkable effect on volatility than bad news. This study decomposes the observed volatility into fundamental volatility and transitory volatility using Kalman filtering method. The findings in this paper is as follows. The correlation between Seoul housing price volatility and Busan housing price volatility is high. But, the correlation between Seoul and Daejeon is low. And the correlation between Daejeon and Busan is low. As a distinguishing feature, the correlation between fundamental volatilities is high in the case of all pairs. But, the correlation between transitory volatilities turns out low. The reason is as follows. When economic information arrives, Seoul, Daejeon, and Busan housing markets, all together, are affected by this information.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.1-39
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• 2011

This study discusses the phenomenon behind various forms of macroeconomic volatility faced by countries in terms of industrial structure through empirical analysis, and in the process attempts to validate the role of the service industry. The analysis shows that economic fluctuations in Korea have been significantly improved, mainly due to the country risk. However, Korea is still exposed to the impact of external shocks, which is attributable to the manufacturing-centered industrial structure. Under such industrial structure, it is inevitable for the Korean economy to be continuously exposed to macroeconomic fluctuations caused by global sectoral shocks. So, in order to alleviate business fluctuations, it is necessary to enhance the role of non-tradable sectors that account for most of the service industry.