This thesis consists of two parts. In chapter 2, we focus on optimal smoothing with correlated data and chapter 3 is devoted to marginal semiparametric modelling of longitudinal/clustered data. Penalized likelihood method offers versatile smoothing techniques in a variety of stochastic settings,...

This approach adopts hierarchical K‐means Clustering method as a basic classing tool to assign 97 countries’ samples to different de facto exchange rate regime groups over the period of 1976 to 2008. Besides, we constructed a fisher discrimination functions based on the classification for...

Extant research finds that exchange rate pegs do little to reduce firms' exposure to exchange rate risk in emerging markets. We study whether exchange rate risk exposures under a pegged/controlled floating currency regime can be priced in asset returns using unique data on exchange rate regime...

Using a national representative sample in China from three largest on-going surveys, this study examines the effects of education on health among working-age population and explores the potential mechanisms. Using the exogenous variation in temporal and geographical impacts of Compulsory...

The 20th century witnessed the birth of modern family planning and its effects on the fertility of hundreds of millions of couples around the world. In 1979, China formally initiated one of the world’s strictest family planning programs-the "one child policy." Despite its obvious significance,...

Using data on China's split-share structure reform that floats non-tradable shares, we find that Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFIIs) have greater influence over the controlling state shareholders than local mutual funds. QFIIs are less prone to political pressure and are more...

Realized stock market returns are volatile and poor reflections of economic growth and investor expectations in China. In this paper, we estimate simultaneously the implied long run growth rate and cost of equity capital for listed Chinese firms over the period 2004-2012. We find that the...

Liquidity flow between regions with different levels of temporary financial constraints has received insufficient attention. This study takes advantage of a natural opportunity: Chinese capital markets clearly distinguish between foreign direct investment firms and firms with foreign...

Using changes in the MSCI Standard Country Indices for 29 countries between 1998 and 2001, we document that stock returns and volumes exhibit quot;index effectsquot; in international markets similar to those detected by the studies of US stocks. The stocks added to the indices experience a sharp...