Market efficiency and the Euro: the case of the Athens Stock Exchange

The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) is tested in the case of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) after the introduction of the euro. The underlying assumption is that stock prices would be more transparent; their performance easier to compare; the exchange rate risk eliminated and as a result we expect the new currency to strengthen argument in favour of the EMH. The General ASE Composite Index and the FTSE/ASE 20, which consists of “high capitalisation” companies, are used. Five statistical tests are employed to test the residuals of the random walk model: the BDS, McLeod-Li, Engle LM, Tsay and Bicovariance test. Bootstrap as well as asymptotic values of these tests are estimated. Alternative models from the GARCH family (GARCH, EGARCH and TGARCH) are also presented in order to investigate the behaviour of the series. Lastly, linear, asymmetric and non-linear error correction models are estimated and compared

Market Efficiency and the Euro: The case of the Athens Stock Exchange

The behaviour of an emerging market, the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), after the introduction of the euro is investigated. The underlying assumption is that stock prices would be more transparent; their performance easier to compare; the exchange rate risk eliminated and as a result we expect the new currency to strengthen the argument, in favour of the EMH. The General ASE Composite Index and the FTSE/ASE 20, which consists of “high capitalisation” companies, are used. Five statistical tests are employed to test the residuals of the random walk model: the BDS, McLeod-Li, Engle LM, Tsay and Bicovariance test. Bootstrap and asymptotic values of these tests are estimated. Alternative models from the GARCH family (GARCH, EGARCH and TGARCH) are also presented in order to investigate the behaviour of the series. Lastly, linear, asymmetric and non-linear error correction models are estimated and compared.Non-Linearity, Market Efficiency, Random Walk, GARCH, non- linear error correction

Calendar Anomalies in an Emerging African Market: Evidence from the Ghana Stock Exchange.

This paper investigates two calendar anomalies in an emerging African market. Both the day of the week and month of the year effects are examined for Ghana. The latter is an interesting case because i) it operates for only three days per week during the sample period and ii) the increased focus that African stock markets have received lately both from academics and practitioners. We employ rolling techniques to asses the affects of policy and institutional changes. This allows deviations from the linear paradigm. We finally employ non-linear models from the GARCH family in a rolling framework to investigate the role of asymmetries. Contrary to a January return pattern in most markets, an April effect is found for Ghana. The evidence also shows the presence of the day of the week effects with asymmetric volatility performing better than the benchmark linear estimates. This seasonality though disappears when only the latest information is used (time-varying asymmetric GARCH). Our approach provides a new framework for investigating this well-known puzzle in finance.Calendar Anomalies, Non-Linearity, Market Efficiency, Asymmetric Volatility, Rolling windows.

Central Bank Independence and inflation: the case of Greece

This paper discusses the argument for Central Bank Independence (CBI) in the case of Greece. Using a time series approach and the last data available before Greece joined the EMU , the hypothesis that Central Bank Independence is important for controlling inflation is examined. Employing two indices, which serve as proxies for CBI, LegalCBI and TOR, the inverse relationship between CBI and inflation was confirmed. The interactions between the variability of inflation and CBI were also investigated. Furthermore, evidence was found to suggest that the rate of turnover Granger causes inflation.Central Bank Independece, inflation, Greece

Determiner spreading as DP-predication

Determiner Spreading (DS) occurs in adjectivally modified nominal phrases comprising more than one definite article, a phenomenon that has received considerable attention and has been extensively described in Greek. This paper discusses the syntactic properties of DS in detail and argues that DS structures are both arguments and predication configurations involving two DPs. This account successfully captures the word-order facts and the distinctive interpretation of DS, while also laying the groundwork towards unifying it with other structures linking two DPs in a predicative relation