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This paper applies a Qual VAR approach to generate a continuous banking crisis indicator from an underlying latent variable using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Four decades of banking crises are assessed by accounting for the evolutionary nature of precursors, as measured through periodic, regional, and developmental effects using a representative sample of countries. Aggregate results from forecast error variance decomposition show that banking sector variables explain nearly half of total variation, external sector a third and real sector a fifth. Findings suggest that recursive out-of-sample forecasts up to 12-months preceding a banking crisis render vital early warning signals, and as based on quarterly data, support expeditious response times. In out-of-sample forecasting, the Qual VAR outperforms a probit model. Improved forecasting performance may assist banking oversight departments and support remediation efforts of policymakers to adequately and timeously respond to banking crises.

This paper evaluates the impact of Brexit-related uncertainty on the economies of the UK, EU, and the US. We propose a measure of Brexit uncertainty that has not been employed before in the literature. We first construct a binary variable by selecting Brexit-related events. We subsequently employ the Qual VAR model of Dueker [2005. "Dynamic Forecasts of Qualitative Variables: A Qual VAR Model of US Recessions." Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 23: 96–104] to transform this variable to a continuous latent variable that captures uncertainty on important economic and financial variables. Next, this latent variable enters a structural Factor-Augmented Vector AutoRegression model combined with 452 macro and financial variables for the sample countries. Overall, our results indicate that the prolonged period of uncertainty, had a positive effect on the economies of major EU countries and negative effects for the UK economy. Additionally, the UK is the most important net sender of uncertainty spillovers in the EU, while Germany and France are among the most important net receivers of uncertainty shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between the exchange market pressure (EMP) and macroeconomic and financial variables for Eastern European countries. The increase/decrease in the EMP influences the probability of a currency crisis, while this phenomenon may negatively/positively affect the foreign trade balance and may obstruct/facilitate foreign debt service in the Czech Republic and Poland due to the need for imported inputs for domestic production. We also consider that the effects of EMP can be asymmetrical and be opposed to regimes changes; furthermore, we find for the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland that changes in the EMP may affect the probability of a broad financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the real economic activity and monetary policy in the US are examined in comparison with the foreign trade balance and exchange rates, using Qual VAR and nonlinear VAR models. We found that the foreign trade with Brazil, Canada and Mexico do not lead to a possible recession in the US. The value of the domestic currency of Brazil, Canada and Mexico against the US dollar does not contribute to a possible recession over the foreign exchange market. We also show that a contraction in the US economy and contractionary monetary policy will lead to the appreciation of the US dollar by leading to capital inflows. Although the shadow interest rate may have asymmetric effects on the foreign trade balance with Canada and USD/CAD, we find that the foreign trade balance with Mexico and USD/MXN will be affected positively/negatively by an increase/decrease in the shadow interest rate.

This paper is motivated by the recent discussion on the need of market supervisors, regulators, and policy makers, to take into account the behavioral elements of market participant attitudes and psychological and cognitive biases when taking policy decisions. We contribute to the discussion by studying, for the first time, the relationship between conventional and unconventional central bank monetary policy and herd behavior in equity markets, and argue that the transmission channel, through which monetary policy may affect herd behavior, is economic expectations and investor sentiment. We combine a range of research methodologies to measure monetary policy, herd behavior, and their possible relation, and our results indicate that conventional and unconventional Fed monetary policy explains a significant percentage of US equity market herd behavior variance, while ECB monetary policy explains a lower percentage of Eurozone herding variance. Impulse Response Functions indicate that Fed's conventional expansionary policy and non-standard policy reduces the levels of herding in the US equity market, while conventional ECB expansionary policy induces higher levels of herding in Spain and Italy. We also detect spill-over effects from Fed monetary policy to EU market herd behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]