Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-x2lbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-10T17:45:12.052Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Long Swings with Memory and Stock Market Fluctuations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Ying-Foon Chow
Affiliation:
Department of Finance, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Ming Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Finance, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.

Abstract

It is now widely held that stock prices are too volatile to be optimal forecasts of future dividends discounted at a constant rate. Using the present value model with a constant discount rate, we show that when there is memory in the duration of dividend swings, the stock price can move in a more volatile fashion than could be warranted by future dividend movements. The memory in the duration of a dividend swing will lead economic agents to time the swing, thereby generating a spurious bias in the stock price. When memory is strong, this spurious bias becomes significant and induces excess volatility in the stock price as if rational bubbles exist. The Efficient Method of Moments (EMM) procedure is used to examine the long swings property in the dividend series. We cannot reject the hypothesis of a strong memory in the dividend swings, and show that excess volatility, even in large samples, can be generated through simulation.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © School of Business Administration, University of Washington 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable