No economic catastrophe bonds

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Publication date
2018
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01A - Journal article
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Parent work
Journal of Derivatives
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
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Series number
Volume
26
Issue / Number
1
Pages / Duration
97-108
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Publisher / Publishing institution
Portfolio Management Research
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Abstract
The Financial Crisis of 2008 did much to discredit the idea of securitization. A recent argument has arisen concerning the idea that a senior tranche of a CDO should be treated as a security whose only risk exposure is to a true economic catastrophe, since anything less would be absorbed by the lower seniority tranches. This means that loss given default would be very large and also very systematic, so the highest rated tranches should be priced to pay larger risk premia than comparably rated single name bonds. Blöchlinger argues that this line of reasoning is wrong in theory, and empirically, observed yield spreads in the market do not support it either. Not only do the AAA tranches default only under the same extreme conditions as government bonds do, but they also benefit from the diversification within the CDO pool. The article demonstrates that this should make the most senior CDO tranches safer than (less diversified) single name bonds of the same rating. A key point in the proof is to recognize that, within the most senior tranche, the effect of diversification in the CDO pool is different for the average dollar of principal value than for the marginal dollar in that tranche (i.e., at the attachment point). Diversification in the pool increases the average value of the senior-most tranche, even though it lowers the value of the marginal dollar.
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Subject (DDC)
330 - Wirtschaft
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ISBN
ISSN
1074-1240
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
No
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Closed
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Citation
BLÖCHLINGER, Andreas, 2018. No economic catastrophe bonds. Journal of Derivatives. 2018. Bd. 26, Nr. 1, S. 97–108. DOI 10.3905/jod.2018.26.1.097. Verfügbar unter: https://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/43002