The liberalization of electricity markets has forced energy producing companies and traders to calculate costs closer to the profit frontier. Thus, an efficient risk management and risk controlling are needed to ensure the financial survival even during bad times. Using the RAROC methodology we...

In this paper we develop a multi-factor model for the joint dynamics of related commodity spot prices in continuous time. We contribute to the existing literature by simultaneously considering various commodity markets in a single, consistent model. In an application we show the economic...

Using a comprehensive dataset of first, second and third generation commodity indices, we investigate the potential diversification benefits in equity-bond portfolios. The results show that first generation commodity indices are outperformed by enhanced indices. Second generation indices provide...

For centuries, Jews in Europe have specialized in financial services. At the same time, they have been the victims of historical antisemitism on the part of the Christian majority. We find that present-day financial development is lower in German counties where historical antisemitism was...

This paper examines long memory volatility in the cross-section of stock returns. We show that long memory volatility is widespread in the U.S. and that the degree of memory can be related to firm characteristics such as market capitalization, book-to-market ratio, prior performance and price...

This paper examines long memory volatility in international stock markets. We show that long memory volatility is widespread in eighty-two countries and that the degree of memory can be related to macroeconomic variables such as inflation, unemployment rates, interest rates or stability of a...

This paper investigates price jumps in commodity markets. We find that jumps are rare and extreme events but occur less frequently than in stock markets. Nonetheless, jump correlations across commodities can be high depending on the commodity sectors. Energy, metal and grains commodities show...

This paper examines the properties of the gold risk premium. We estimate a parsimonious model for the gold risk premium and uncover important time variations in the dynamics of the risk premium. We also estimate risk premia of the stock and bond markets, and investigate the role of gold as a...