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Specification analysis of structural credit risk models

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Author Info
Jing-zhi Huang
Hao Zhou

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Abstract

In this paper we conduct a specification analysis of structural credit risk models, using term structure of credit default swap (CDS) spreads and equity volatility from high-frequency return data. Our study provides consistent econometric estimation of the pricing model parameters and specification tests based on the joint behavior of time-series asset dynamics and cross-sectional pricing errors. Our empirical tests reject strongly the standard Merton (1974) model, the Black and Cox (1976) barrier model, and the Longstaff and Schwartz (1995) model with stochastic interest rates. The double exponential jump-diffusion barrier model (Huang and Huang, 2003) improves significantly over the three models. The best model is the stationary leverage model of Collin-Dufresne and Goldstein (2001), which we cannot reject in more than half of our sample firms. However, our empirical results document the inability of the existing structural models to capture the dynamic behavior of CDS spreads and equity volatility, especially for investment grade names. This points to a potential role of time-varying asset volatility, a feature that is missing in the standard structural models.

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Paper provided by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.) in its series Finance and Economics Discussion Series with number 2008-55.

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Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2008-55

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Keywords: Econometric models ; Risk management;

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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Scheicher, Martin & Raunig, Burkhard, 2008. "A value at risk analysis of credit default swaps," Discussion Paper Series 2: Banking and Financial Studies 2008,12, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
  2. Song Han & Hao Zhou, 2008. "Effects of liquidity on the nondefault component of corporate yield spreads: evidence from intraday transactions data," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2008-40, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
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