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Mapping algorithms, agricultural futures, and the relationship between commodity investment flows and crude oil futures prices

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  • Yan, Lei
  • Irwin, Scott H.
  • Sanders, Dwight R.

Abstract

Several studies employ mapping algorithms to infer index positions in WTI crude oil futures from positions in agricultural futures and report an economically large and statistically significant impact of index positions on crude oil futures prices. In this article, we provide direct evidence that the apparent impact of index investment based on mapping algorithms is spurious. Specifically, an idiosyncratic spike in agricultural index positions during 2007–08, coupled with the spike in oil prices, causes the spurious impact of index investment on crude oil futures prices found in these earlier studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan, Lei & Irwin, Scott H. & Sanders, Dwight R., 2018. "Mapping algorithms, agricultural futures, and the relationship between commodity investment flows and crude oil futures prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 486-504.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:72:y:2018:i:c:p:486-504
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2018.04.005
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    2. Moses M. Kupabado & Juergen Kaehler, 2021. "Financialization, common stochastic trends, and commodity prices," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(12), pages 1988-2008, December.
    3. Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel & McCrorie, J. Roderick & Paraskevopoulos, Ioannis, 2020. "Mild explosivity in recent crude oil prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Dai, Peng-Fei & Xiong, Xiong & Zhang, Jin & Zhou, Wei-Xing, 2022. "The role of global economic policy uncertainty in predicting crude oil futures volatility: Evidence from a two-factor GARCH-MIDAS model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. He, Huizi & Sun, Mei & Gao, Cuixia & Li, Xiuming, 2021. "Detecting lag linkage effect between economic policy uncertainty and crude oil price: A multi-scale perspective," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 580(C).
    6. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Lin, Jia-Juan, 2019. "Can the VAR model outperform MRS model for asset allocation in commodity market under different risk preferences of investors?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Commodity futures; Crude oil; Index investment; Mapping algorithm;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

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