The Economic Function of Futures Markets

Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-521-38934-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 272 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 446 g

This book offers an explanation of why commodity processors and dealers use futures markets. It argues that they use futures contracts as part of an implicit method of borrowing and lending commodities, contrary to the accepted view of dealers averse to the fluctuating value of their inventories wanting insurance against price risk. Employing models developed to explain the demand for money, this book demonstrates that risk-neutral dealers have sufficient reason to use futures markets. Moreover, the book exposes major internal inconsistencies in the accepted explanation. Rather than insurance markets, the appropriate analogy is the money market, which is the point the book establishes through discussing actual loan markets in commodities. This insight into the function of futures markets is then used to explain how futures prices for different delivery dates express a term structure of commodity-specific interest rates and why futures markets flourish for some types of commodities and not for others.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Williams, Jeffrey

Williams, Jeffrey C.

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Finanzsektor & Finanzdienstleistungen Anlagen & Wertpapiere
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Finanzsektor & Finanzdienstleistungen Unternehmensfinanzierung
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Unternehmensfinanzen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. An Introduction to futures markets; 2. Equivalent ways to borrow and lend commodities; 3. Futures markets and risk aversion; 4. The demand to borrow commodities; 5. The contribution of futures markets; 6. The optimal number of futures markets; 7. conclusion: The economic functions of futures markets.