The Effects of War Risk on U.S. Financial Markets

This paper measures the effects of the risk of war on nine U.S. financial variables using a heteroskedasticity-based estimation technique. The results indicate that increases in the risk of war cause declines in Treasury yields and equity prices, a widening of lower-grade corporate spreads, a fall i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rigobon, Roberto, Sack, Brian P.
Format: Working Paper
Language:en_US
Published: 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1848
Description
Summary:This paper measures the effects of the risk of war on nine U.S. financial variables using a heteroskedasticity-based estimation technique. The results indicate that increases in the risk of war cause declines in Treasury yields and equity prices, a widening of lower-grade corporate spreads, a fall in the dollar, and a rise in oil prices. This "war risk factor" accounted for a considerable portion of the variance of these financial variables over the ten weeks leading up to the onset of war with Iraq.