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Inflation-Indexed Bonds and the Expectations Hypothesis

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  • Carolin E. Pflueger
  • Luis M. Viceira

Abstract

This paper empirically analyzes the Expectations Hypothesis (EH) in inflation-indexed (or real) bonds and in nominal bonds in the US and in the UK. We strongly reject the EH in inflation-indexed bonds, and also confirm and update the existing evidence rejecting the EH in nominal bonds. This rejection implies that the risk premium on both real and nominal bonds varies predictably over time. We also find strong evidence that the spread between the nominal and the real bond risk premium, or the break-even inflation risk premium, also varies over time. We argue that the time variation in real bond risk premia mostly likely reflects both a changing real interest rate risk premium and a changing liquidity risk premium, and that the variability in the nominal bond risk premia reflects a changing inflation risk premium. We estimate significant time series variability in the magnitude and sign of bond risk premia.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolin E. Pflueger & Luis M. Viceira, 2011. "Inflation-Indexed Bonds and the Expectations Hypothesis," NBER Working Papers 16903, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16903
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robin Greenwood & Dimitri Vayanos, 2014. "Bond Supply and Excess Bond Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 663-713.
    2. Buraschi, Andrea & Jiltsov, Alexei, 2005. "Inflation risk premia and the expectations hypothesis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 429-490, February.
    3. Martin D. D. Evans, 2003. "Real risk, inflation risk, and the term structure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(487), pages 345-389, April.
    4. Refet S. Gürkaynak & Brian Sack & Jonathan H. Wright, 2010. "The TIPS Yield Curve and Inflation Compensation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 70-92, January.
    5. Robin Greenwood & Dimitri Vayanos, 2010. "Price Pressure in the Government Bond Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 585-590, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Magdalena Grothe & Aidan Meyler, 2018. "Inflation Forecasts: Are Market-Based and Survey-Based Measures Informative?," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 9(1), pages 171-188, January.
    2. Francisco Palomino & Alex Hsu, 2013. "What do Nominal Rigidities and Monetary Policy tell us about the Real Yield Curve?," 2013 Meeting Papers 50, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Arunima Sinha, 2016. "Learning and the Yield Curve," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2-3), pages 513-547, March.
    4. Kitsul, Yuriy & Wright, Jonathan H., 2013. "The economics of options-implied inflation probability density functions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 696-711.
    5. Faust, Jon & Wright, Jonathan H., 2013. "Forecasting Inflation," Handbook of Economic Forecasting, in: G. Elliott & C. Granger & A. Timmermann (ed.), Handbook of Economic Forecasting, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 2-56, Elsevier.
    6. Cartea, Álvaro & Saúl, Jonatan & Toro, Juan, 2012. "Optimal portfolio choice in real terms: Measuring the benefits of TIPS," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 721-740.
    7. Gimeno, Ricardo & Ibáñez, Alfredo, 2018. "The eurozone (expected) inflation: An option's eyes view," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 70-92.
    8. Driessen, Joost & Nijman, Theodore E. & Simon, Zorka, 2022. "A simple approach to estimate long-term interest rates," SAFE Working Paper Series 238, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, revised 2022.
    9. Grishchenko, Olesya V. & Vanden, Joel M. & Zhang, Jianing, 2016. "The informational content of the embedded deflation option in TIPS," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-26.
    10. Driessen, Joost & Nijman, Theo E. & Simon, Zorka, 2017. "The missing piece of the puzzle: Liquidity premiums in inflation-indexed markets," SAFE Working Paper Series 183, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    11. Auckenthaler, Julia & Kupfer, Alexander & Sendlhofer, Rupert, 2015. "The impact of liquidity on inflation-linked bonds: A hypothetical indexed bonds approach," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 139-154.
    12. Shi Chen & Wolfgang Karl Härdle & Weining Wang, 2022. "The common and specific components of inflation expectations across European countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 553-580, February.
    13. Indrajit Mitra & Yu Xu, 2020. "Limited Household Risk Sharing: General Equilibrium Implications for the Term Structure of Interest Rates," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2020-20, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    14. Cieslak, Anna & Pang, Hao, 2020. "Common shocks in stocks and bonds," CEPR Discussion Papers 14708, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Hanson, Samuel G. & Stein, Jeremy C., 2015. "Monetary policy and long-term real rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 429-448.
    16. Shi Chen & Wolfgang Karl Härdle & Weining Wang, "undated". "Inflation Co-movement across Countries in Multi-maturity Term Structure: An Arbitrage-Free Approach," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2015-049, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
    17. Philipp Karl Illeditsch, 2018. "Residual Inflation Risk," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5289-5314, November.
    18. Michael Bleaney, 2024. "Did the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme become fiscally wasteful?," Discussion Papers 2024/01, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).

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    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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