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The expectation hypothesis of the term structure of very short-term rates: Statistical tests and economic value

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  • Della Corte, Pasquale
  • Sarno, Lucio
  • Thornton, Daniel L.

Abstract

This paper reexamines the validity of the expectation hypothesis (EH) of the term structure of US repo rates ranging in maturity from overnight to 3 months. We extend the work of Longstaff [2000b. The term structure of very short term rates: new evidence for the expectations hypothesis. Journal of Financial Economics 58, 397-415] in two directions: (1) we implement statistical tests designed to increase test power in this context; (2) more important, we assess the economic value of departures from the EH based on criteria of profitability and economic significance in the context of a simple trading strategy. The EH is rejected throughout the term structure examined on the basis of the statistical tests. However, the results of our economic analysis are favorable to the EH, suggesting that the statistical rejections of the EH in the repo market are economically insignificant.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Financial Economics.

Volume (Year): 89 (2008)
Issue (Month): 1 (July)
Pages: 158-174

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Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:89:y:2008:i:1:p:158-174

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505576

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Della Corte, Pasquale & Sarno, Lucio & Tsiakas, Ilias, 2010. "Spot and Forward Volatility in Foreign Exchange," CEPR Discussion Papers 7893, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  2. Rime, Dagfinn & Sarno, Lucio & Sojli, Elvira, 2010. "Exchange rate forecasting, order flow and macroeconomic information," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 72-88, January.
  3. Della Corte, P. & Sarno, L. & Sestieri, G., 2011. "The Predictive Information Content of External Imbalances for Exchange Rate Returns: How Much Is It Worth?," Working papers 313, Banque de France.
  4. Stephen Hall & Kavita Sirichand, 2010. "Economic Value of Stock and Interest Rate Predictability in the UK," Discussion Papers in Economics 10/13, Department of Economics, University of Leicester.
  5. Daniel L. Thornton, 2012. "Monetary policy: why money matters, and interest rates don’t," Working Papers 2012-020, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  6. Daniel L. Thornton, 2009. "How did we get to inflation targeting and where do we go now? a perspective from the U.S. experience," Working Papers 2009-038, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  7. Eichengreen, Barry & Mody, Ashoka & Nedeljkovic, Milan & Sarno, Lucio, 2012. "How the Subprime Crisis went global: Evidence from bank credit default swap spreads," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 1299-1318.
  8. Massimo Guidolin & Daniel L. Thornton, 2010. "Predictions of short-term rates and the expectations hypothesis," Working Papers 2010-013, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  9. Stephen Hall & Kavita Sirichand, 2010. "Decision-Based Forecast Evaluation of UK Interest Rate Predictability," Discussion Papers in Economics 10/09, Department of Economics, University of Leicester.
  10. Kotomin, Vladimir, 2011. "A test of the expectations hypothesis in very short-term international rates in the presence of preferred habitat for liquidity," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 49-55, February.

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