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What Does the Risk-Appetite Index Measure?

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Author Info
Miroslav Misina

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Abstract

Explanations of changes in asset prices as being due to exogenous changes in risk appetite, although arguably controversial, have been popular in the financial community and have also received some attention in attempts to account for recent financial crises. Operational versions of these explanations are based on the assumption that changes in asset prices can be decomposed into a part that can be attributed to changes in riskiness and a part attributable to changes in risk aversion, and that some quantitative measure can capture these effects in isolation. One such measure, the risk-appetite index (RAI)-- used in the financial community as well as in assessments of financial stability in emerging markets -- is based on the rank correlation between assets' riskiness and excess returns. The author seeks to provide a theoretical foundation for this measure. He summarizes the arguments behind the index in two propositions and attempts to derive these propositions within a class of well-specified asset-pricing models. His results indicate that, whereas the exclusive attribution of the rank effect to changes in risk aversion is problematic in general, a specific set of circumstances can be identified in which this attribution is permissible. The key assumption is identified, and its empirical implications are examined. In cases where this assumption is shown to be empirically valid, the model provides a theoretical foundation for the RAI.

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File URL: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/res/wp/2003/wp03-23.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Bank of Canada in its series Working Papers with number 03-23.

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Length: 28 pages
Date of creation: 2003
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Handle: RePEc:bca:bocawp:03-23

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Related research
Keywords: Economic models; Financial markets;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Miroslav Misina, 2003. "Are Distorted Beliefs Too Good to be True?," Working Papers 03-4, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
  2. Danthine, Jean-Pierre & Donaldson, John B & Giannikos, Chrisos & Guirguis, Hany, 2003. "On the Consequences of State Dependent Preferences for the Pricing of Financial Assets," CEPR Discussion Papers 3697, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Kumar, Manmohan S & Persaud, Avinash, 2002. "Pure Contagion and Investors' Shifting Risk Appetite: Analytical Issues and Empirical Evidence," International Finance, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(3), pages 401-36, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Marcello Pericoli & Massimo Sbracia, 2006. "The CAPM and the risk appetite index; theoretical differences and empirical similarities," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 586, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  2. Mardi Dungey & Renee Fry & Vance Martin & Brenda González-Hermosillo, 2004. "Characterizing Global Investors' Risk Appetite for Emerging Market Debt During Financial Crises," IMF Working Papers 03/251, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  3. Prasanna Gai & Nicholas Vause, . "Measuring investors' risk appetite," Bank of England working papers 283, Bank of England. [Downloadable!]
  4. Miroslav Misina, 2006. "Benchmark Index of Risk Appetite," Working Papers 06-16, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-24.

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