Asset prices and exchange rates: a time dependent approach

This paper studies the relationship between exchange rates and asset prices. It takes the novel approach of modeling both the markets in a framework of heterogeneous agents. Investors maximize their profits from the international equity markets by solving a Mean-Variance problem. As a result, agents choose between different combinations of rules in the home and foreign equity market as well as in the foreign exchange market. Given the incomplete information setting, agents check the past profitability of their rules and switch behavior in the effort to maximize their profits. Due to the heuristics embedded within the model, this simple frame-work alone is able to create a complex, time-varying dynamics. This dynamics is analyzed for different parameters and conditions. Finally the model is brought to the data, to check the fitness of the predictions on the real world markets.