IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/empeco/v65y2023i6d10.1007_s00181-023-02449-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hedging against inflation: housing versus equity

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Fehrle

    (Kiel University)

Abstract

To which extent do equity and housing hedge against inflation? Despite the extensive literature, there is only little consensus. This paper presents evidence on this question from the Jordà–Schularick–Taylor Macrohistory Database covering 16 countries from 1870 to 2020. The results depend on the time horizon and period considered. Within a 1-, 5-, and 10-year horizon, housing at least partially hedges against inflation. The nominal return–inflation relation is higher in the post-war period. In the long run, housing hedges excessively in the whole sample and perfectly in the post-war period. Equity provides no hedge within 1 year in the entire period, and the returns tend to decrease with inflation in the post-war period. The hedge improves slightly with a longer time horizon and is perfect in the long run in the post-war period. Thus, housing is at least weakly superior in hedging against inflation. The results are robust to a non-housing consumption price index and an asset price appreciation approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Fehrle, 2023. "Hedging against inflation: housing versus equity," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(6), pages 2583-2626, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:65:y:2023:i:6:d:10.1007_s00181-023-02449-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-023-02449-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00181-023-02449-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00181-023-02449-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ali Anari & James Kolari, 2002. "House Prices and Inflation," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 67-84.
    2. Katharina Knoll & Moritz Schularick & Thomas Steger, 2017. "No Price Like Home: Global House Prices, 1870-2012," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 331-353, February.
    3. Òscar Jordà & Moritz Schularick & Alan M. Taylor, 2017. "Macrofinancial History and the New Business Cycle Facts," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 213-263.
    4. Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick & Ulrike I. Steins, 2020. "Income and Wealth Inequality in America, 1949–2016," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(9), pages 3469-3519.
    5. Pedroni, Peter, 2004. "Panel Cointegration: Asymptotic And Finite Sample Properties Of Pooled Time Series Tests With An Application To The Ppp Hypothesis," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 597-625, June.
    6. Alan M. Taylor, 2002. "A Century Of Purchasing-Power Parity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 139-150, February.
    7. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Smith, Ron, 1995. "Estimating long-run relationships from dynamic heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 79-113, July.
    8. Somayeh Madadpour & Mohsen Asgari, 2019. "The puzzling relationship between stocks return and inflation: a review article," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 66(2), pages 115-145, June.
    9. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    10. Fama, Eugene F. & Schwert, G. William, 1977. "Asset returns and inflation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 115-146, November.
    11. Boudoukh, Jacob & Richardson, Matthew, 1993. "Stock Returns and Inflation: A Long-Horizon Perspective," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1346-1355, December.
    12. Chudik, Alexander & Pesaran, M. Hashem, 2019. "Mean group estimation in presence of weakly cross-correlated estimators," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 101-105.
    13. Rebucci, Alessandro, 2010. "Estimating VARs with long stationary heterogeneous panels: A comparison of the fixed effect and the mean group estimators," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1183-1198, September.
    14. Arnold, Stephan & Auer, Benjamin R., 2015. "What do scientists know about inflation hedging?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 187-214.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jan Muckenhaupt & Martin Hoesli & Bing Zhu, 2025. "Listed Real Estate as an Inflation Hedge Across Regimes," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 70(2), pages 189-239, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel Fehrle, 2021. "Hedging Against Inflation: Housing vs. Equity," Discussion Paper Series 342, Universitaet Augsburg, Institute for Economics.
    2. Ulrike Malmendier & Alexandra Steiny Wellsjo, 2024. "Rent or Buy? Inflation Experiences and Homeownership within and across Countries," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(3), pages 1977-2023, June.
    3. Kuvshinov, Dmitry & Zimmermann, Kaspar, 2020. "The Big Bang: Stock Market Capitalization in the Long Run," CEPR Discussion Papers 14468, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Kuvshinov, Dmitry & Zimmermann, Kaspar, 2022. "The big bang: Stock market capitalization in the long run," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 527-552.
    5. Bampinas, Georgios & Panagiotidis, Theodore, 2016. "Hedging inflation with individual US stocks: A long-run portfolio analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 374-392.
    6. Malmendier, Ulrike M. & Steiny Wellsjo, Alex, 2020. "Rent or Buy? The Role of Lifetime Experiences on Homeownership within and across Countries," CEPR Discussion Papers 14935, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Adolfo Maza & Paula Gutiérrez-Portilla, 2022. "Outward FDI and exports relation: A heterogeneous panel approach dealing with cross-sectional dependence," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 170, pages 174-189.
    8. Huntington, Hillard & Liddle, Brantley, 2022. "How energy prices shape OECD economic growth: Panel evidence from multiple decades," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    9. Abebe Hailemariam & Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Russell Smyth & Kingsley Tetteh Baako, 2021. "Income inequality and housing prices in the very long‐run," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(1), pages 295-321, July.
    10. Òscar Jordà & Moritz Schularick & Alan M. Taylor, 2019. "The Total Risk Premium Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 25653, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Salisu, Afees A. & Raheem, Ibrahim D. & Ndako, Umar B., 2020. "The inflation hedging properties of gold, stocks and real estate: A comparative analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Ahmed, Rashad, 2023. "Global commodity prices and macroeconomic fluctuations in a low interest rate environment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    13. Brantley Liddle & Fakhri Hasanov, 2022. "Industry electricity price and output elasticities for high-income and middle-income countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1293-1319, March.
    14. Bayer, Christian & Born, Benjamin & Luetticke, Ralph, 2023. "The liquidity channel of fiscal policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 86-117.
    15. Salisu, Afees A. & Ndako, Umar B. & Akanni, Lateef O., 2020. "New evidence for the inflation hedging potential of US stock returns," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    16. Shreya Pal, 2024. "Do economic globalization and the level of education impede poverty levels? A non-linear ARDL approach," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 22(3), pages 621-667, September.
    17. Hassan Fereidouni Gholipour & Usama Al-mulali & Abdul Hakim Mohammed, 2014. "Foreign investments in real estate, economic growth and property prices: evidence from OECD countries," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 33-45, March.
    18. Halkos, George, 2011. "Economy - environment relationship: The case of sulphur emissions," MPRA Paper 45480, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Nassar S. Al-Nassar & Razzaque H. Bhatti, 2019. "Are common stocks a hedge against inflation in emerging markets?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 43(3), pages 421-455, July.
    20. NEIFAR, MALIKA & HACHICHA, Fatma, 2022. "GFH validity for Canada, UK, and Suisse stock markets: Evidence ‎from univariate and panel ARDL models," MPRA Paper 114613, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:65:y:2023:i:6:d:10.1007_s00181-023-02449-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.