No abstract

The present study addresses one of the most problematic phenomena: Bitcoin price. We explore the Granger causality for two relationships (Bitcoin price and trade transactions; Bitcoin price and investors' attractiveness) from a frequency domain perspective-based on unconditional and conditional data analysis. Accurately, this research empirically assesses the causal links between these variables unconditionally on the one hand and conditioning upon relevant control variables (recorded in literature) on the other hand. The observed outcomes reveal some differences with respect to the frequencies involved, highlighting the difficulty to reach clearer insights and better paths into this nascent crypto-currency. Beyond the nuances of short-, medium- and long-run frequencies, this paper confirms the extremely speculative nature of Bitcoin without overlooking its usefulness in economic reasons. The consideration of the Chinese market index, the hash rate, the monetary velocity and the estimated output volume has led to solid and meaningful findings connecting further Bitcoin to speculation.

This paper provides an innovative perspective on the role of gold as a hedge and safe haven. We use a quantile-on-quantile regression approach to capture the dependence structure between gold returns and changes in uncertainty under different gold market conditions, while considering the nuances of uncertainty levels. To capture the core uncertainty effects on gold returns, a dynamic factor model is used. This technique allows summarizing the impact of six different indexes (namely economic, macroeconomic, microeconomic, monetary policy, financial and political uncertainties) within one aggregate measure of uncertainty. In doing so, we show that the gold's role as a hedge and safe haven cannot be assumed to hold at all times. This ability seems to be sensitive to the gold's various market states (bearish, normal or bullish) and to whether the uncertainty is low, middle or high. Interestingly, we find a positive and strong relationship between gold returns and the uncertainty composite indicator when the uncertainty attains its highest level and under normal gold market scenario. This suggests that holding a diversified portfolio composed of gold could help protecting against exposure to uncertain risks. Acknowledgement: The authors would like to thank the editor Sushanta Mallick and the two anonymous Reviewers for helpful and insightful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this article. Highlights We examine the response of gold returns to different uncertainty indicators. We use a quantile-on-quantile regression model.  We develop an uncertainty composite indicator based on six uncertainty factors. The hedge and safe haven ability of gold is conditional on gold market states. The gold's role as a hedge and safe haven depends on the nuances of uncertainty.

No abstract

We use Moroccan data to study the determinants of international migrants’ remittances, testing the altruistic and welfare hypotheses. In particular, we analyze and assess what motivates migrants to send remittances back home. Our results lend support to the altruistic hypothesis suggesting that remittances are sent to households with low levels of welfare. Furthermore, the decision to remit is intensely associated to individual characteristics such as migrant income, gender and age. Likewise, remittances may be viewed as loan repayment if the migration costs were borne by the remittance-receiving family. JEL classification F22, J61, D1, D91, O55.