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Measuring the Perceived Liquidity of the Corporate Bond Market

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  • Sergey Chernenko
  • Adi Sunderam

Abstract

We propose a novel measure of bond market liquidity that does not depend on transaction data: the strength of the cross-sectional relationship between mutual fund cash holdings and fund flow volatility. Our measure captures how liquid funds perceive their portfolio holdings to be at a given point in time. The perceived liquidity of speculative grade and Rule 144A bonds is significantly lower than investment grade bonds in the cross section and deteriorated significantly following the 2008-9 financial crisis. Our measure can be applied in settings where either transaction data are not available or transactions are rare, including the markets for asset-backed securities, syndicated loans, and municipal bonds.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergey Chernenko & Adi Sunderam, 2020. "Measuring the Perceived Liquidity of the Corporate Bond Market," NBER Working Papers 27092, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27092
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Nicola Branzoli & Raffaele Gallo & Antonio Ilari & Dario Portioli, 2023. "Financial fragilities and risk-taking of corporate bond funds in the aftermath of central bank policy interventions," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1404, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    3. Branzoli, Nicola & Gallo, Raffaele & Ilari, Antonio & Portioli, Dario, 2024. "Central banks’ corporate asset purchase programmes and risk-taking by bond funds in the aftermath of market stress," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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