Logo image
Further evidence on the rationality of interest rate expectations: A comprehensive study of developed and emerging economies
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Further evidence on the rationality of interest rate expectations: A comprehensive study of developed and emerging economies

Fazlul Miah, Ahmed Ali Khalifa and Shawkat Hammoudeh
Economic modelling, v 54, pp 574-590
Apr 2016

Abstract

Consensus survey data Developed economies Emerging markets Monetary policy transparency Panel regressions and ADF Rational expectations
This study performs unbiasedness and efficiency tests of three-month and twelve-month ahead interest rate forecasts of one short-term and one long-term security of 10 developed and 20 emerging economies by exploiting a new survey data source. The results of the country-specific unbiasedness tests are mixed. However, the panel-based unbiasedness test results show that forecasts are biased. The efficiency test results indicate that forecasters do not incorporate all available information into their forecasts. We also find that emerging markets' interest rates are more predictable than the developed markets' interest rates at the shorter horizon due mainly to high inflation in the emerging markets. We also check for the robustness of our findings by dividing the sample period into two sub-periods, before and after the global financial crisis of 2007. We did not find any significant difference in the sub-period results compared to the full period. By considering a new group of countries (emerging economies), a new data source, and a new estimation approach, our study contributes to the financial market efficiency literature, especially on emerging markets. Investors and monetary policy makers should use these data cautiously as forecasts are not efficient. The study also has implications for monetary policy transparency and independence. •The study performs unbiasedness and efficiency tests of interest rate expectations for thirty countries.•Unbiasedness test results show that expectations are biased in general, but individual country-specific results are mixed.•The efficiency test results show that forecasters do not incorporate all available information.•Emerging markets' interest rates are more predictable at the shorter horizon than the developed markets due mainly to higher inflation.•The results are robust and do not change at the different sub-periods.

Metrics

3 Record Views
8 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
#17 Partnerships for the Goals

Source: SDGs in the Output

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Economics
Logo image