International Risk Cycles

50 Pages Posted: 8 Aug 2011 Last revised: 18 Mar 2023

See all articles by Francois Gourio

Francois Gourio

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Michael Siemer

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Adrien Verdelhan

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management

Date Written: August 2011

Abstract

Recent work in international finance suggests that the forward premium puzzle can be accounted for if (1) aggregate uncertainty is time-varying, and (2) countries have heterogeneous exposures to a world aggregate shock. We embed these features in a standard two-country real business cycle framework, and calibrate the model to match the differences between low and high interest rates countries. Unlike traditional real business cycle models, our model generates volatile exchange rates, a large currency forward premium, "excess comovement'' of asset prices relative to quantities, and an imperfect correlation between relative consumption growth and exchange rates. Our model implies, however, that high interest rate countries have smoother quantities, equity returns and interest rates than low interest rate countries, contrary to the data.

Suggested Citation

Gourio, Francois and Siemer, Michael and Verdelhan, Adrien and Verdelhan, Adrien, International Risk Cycles (August 2011). NBER Working Paper No. w17277, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1906211

Francois Gourio (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago ( email )

230 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60604
United States

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/fgourio

Michael Siemer

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

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Washington, DC 20551
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.michael-siemer.com

Adrien Verdelhan

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

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E62-416
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

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