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De Problema Pesonis. Peso problems after Wassenaar?. E.R. Afman A.L. Vleesch Dubois. What is the peso problem?. A peso problem arises when the market forecasts reflect the possibility of major events that occur relatively infrequently (Maurice Obstfeld)
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De Problema Pesonis Peso problems after Wassenaar? E.R. AfmanA.L. Vleesch Dubois
What is the peso problem? • A peso problem arises when the market forecasts reflect the possibility of major events that occur relatively infrequently (Maurice Obstfeld) • The peso problem is the perception, embedded in a price or rate, of a small probability of a large change(Dictionary of Financial Risk Management)
Why peso? • First observed in the 1970s in Mexico • US$/peso rate fixed for 20 years • Yet: interest-rate differential • UIP invalid! • -> Market expected devaluation • Peso devalued 46% in August 1976
Why is it a problem? (1) • Investors act on uncertain events • Possibility of “catastrophic event” leads to irrational behaviour • Forecast error: systematic under-/ overestimation • Distortion of market efficiency • High interest rate (risk premium) very costly
Why is it a problem? (2) • Measurement problems! • Ex ante: anticipated event is rare or unprecedented; no historical data for chartists to predict • Ex post: serially correlated forecast errors in data set which cannot be explained (Finance-Minister Problem)
Academic literature • Peso problems disrupt test for market inefficiency • Cannot be explained with rational expectations theory • Hard to filter out of data set! • Which models can we use to capture magnitude of the problem?
Models for peso problem • Find other occurrences of same event and find trend (not always feasible) • Regression analysis of UIP deviations • Bubble theory • Regime switching models
Application: DFL/DM 1983:Wassenaar
Conclusion • After Wassenaar, the DFL/DM interest rate was completely stable • But: Dutch interest rates were significantly higher than German rates in 1985-1989 • UIP deviation • Peso problem?