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Do market prices aggregate information about macroeconomic uncertainty (or risk)?

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  • James Peery Cover
  • Hye-Jin Lee

Abstract

This article examines several economic variables that represent either confidence in future economic conditions or the degree of risk/uncertainty about future conditions in order to determine which contain more information about future employment and output. Some of these variables are prices, while others are from surveys. Causality tests, historical decompositions within a VAR and out-of-sample forecasts are among the tools used. This article concludes that monthly stock returns contain much more information about future economic conditions than the other variables. The spread between Moody's BAA and AAA bonds, the spread between the constant maturity 10-year government bond and the federal funds rate, as well as uncertainty in future economic conditions as measured by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Business Outlook Survey also provide information about future economic conditions. Notably, this article finds that monthly stock returns contain more information about future economic conditions than does the vix and that variables based on market prices provide more information than survey data. This result provides some support for the notion that market prices aggregate information.

Suggested Citation

  • James Peery Cover & Hye-Jin Lee, 2015. "Do market prices aggregate information about macroeconomic uncertainty (or risk)?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(42), pages 4511-4534, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:47:y:2015:i:42:p:4511-4534
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2015.1031872
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Estrella, Arturo & Mishkin, Frederic S., 1997. "The predictive power of the term structure of interest rates in Europe and the United States: Implications for the European Central Bank," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 1375-1401, July.
    2. R?diger Bachmann & Steffen Elstner & Eric R. Sims, 2013. "Uncertainty and Economic Activity: Evidence from Business Survey Data," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 217-249, April.
    3. Plott, Charles R & Sunder, Shyam, 1988. "Rational Expectations and the Aggregation of Diverse Information in Laboratory Security Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(5), pages 1085-1118, September.
    4. James Peery Cover, 2011. "Risk and Macroeconomic Activity," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 78(1), pages 149-166, July.
    5. James Peery Cover, 2011. "Risk and Macroeconomic Activity," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 78(1), pages 149-166, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vladimir Arčabić & James Peery Cover, 2016. "Uncertainty and the effectiveness of fiscal policy," EFZG Working Papers Series 1611, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb.
    2. Quynh Trang Phan & Poomthan Rangkakulnuwat, 2022. "How price informativeness affects the sensitivity of investment-to-stock price in Vietnamese listed firms," Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and Accounting, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 12(1), pages 28-61.
    3. Gabriel Caldas Montes & André Almeida, 2017. "Corruption and business confidence: a panel data analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(4), pages 2692-2702.
    4. André Filipe Guedes Almeida & Gabriel Caldas Montes, 2020. "Effects of crime and violence on business confidence: evidence from Rio de Janeiro," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 47(7), pages 1669-1688, May.

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