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Time-varying risk aversion: An application to energy hedging

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  • Cotter, John
  • Hanly, Jim

Abstract

Risk aversion is a key element of utility maximizing hedge strategies; however, it has typically been assigned an arbitrary value in the literature. This paper instead applies a GARCH-in-Mean (GARCH-M) model to estimate a time-varying measure of risk aversion that is based on the observed risk preferences of energy hedging market participants. The resulting estimates are applied to derive explicit risk aversion based optimal hedge strategies for both short and long hedgers. Out-of-sample results are also presented based on a unique approach that allows us to forecast risk aversion, thereby estimating hedge strategies that address the potential future needs of energy hedgers. We find that the risk aversion based hedges differ significantly from simpler OLS hedges. When implemented in-sample, risk aversion hedges for short hedgers outperform the OLS hedge ratio in a utility based comparison.

Suggested Citation

  • Cotter, John & Hanly, Jim, 2010. "Time-varying risk aversion: An application to energy hedging," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 432-441, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:32:y:2010:i:2:p:432-441
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    Cited by:

    1. Martínez, Beatriz & Torró, Hipòlit, 2018. "Hedging spark spread risk with futures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 731-746.
    2. Cotter, John & Hanly, Jim, 2012. "A utility based approach to energy hedging," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 817-827.
    3. Martínez, Beatriz & Torró, Hipòlit, 2015. "European natural gas seasonal effects on futures hedging," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 154-168.
    4. Othieno, Ferdinand & Biekpe, Nicholas, 2019. "Estimating the conditional equity risk premium in African frontier markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 538-551.
    5. Furió, Dolores & Torró, Hipòlit, 2020. "Optimal hedging under biased energy futures markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Gong, Xu & Wen, Fenghua & Xia, X.H. & Huang, Jianbai & Pan, Bin, 2017. "Investigating the risk-return trade-off for crude oil futures using high-frequency data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 152-161.
    7. Conlon, Thomas & Cotter, John, 2013. "Downside risk and the energy hedger's horizon," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 371-379.
    8. Cotter, John & Hanly, Jim, 2015. "Performance of utility based hedges," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 718-726.
    9. George E. Halkos & Apostolos S. Tsirivis, 2019. "Energy Commodities: A Review of Optimal Hedging Strategies," Energies, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 12(20), pages 1-1, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy Hedging Risk management Risk aversion Forecasting;

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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