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Level, Slope, Curvature: Characterising the Yield Curve in a Cointegrated VAR Model

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  • Giese, Julia V.

Abstract

Empirical evidence on the expectations hypothesis of the term structure is in-conclusive and its validity widely debated. Using a cointegrated VAR model of US treasury yields, this paper extends a common approach to test the theory. If, as we find, spreads between two yields are non-stationary, the expectations hypothesis fails. However, we present evidence that differences between two spreads are stationary. This suggests that the curvature of the yield curve may be a more meaningful indicator of expected future interest rates than the slope. Furthermore, we characterise level and slope by deriving the common trends inherent in the cointegrated VAR, and establish feedback patterns between them and the macroeconomy.

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  • Giese, Julia V., 2008. "Level, Slope, Curvature: Characterising the Yield Curve in a Cointegrated VAR Model," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 2, pages 1-20.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifweej:7395
    DOI: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2008-28
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    Cited by:

    1. Katarina Juselius, 2011. "On the Role of Theory and Evidence in Macroeconomics," Chapters, in: John B. Davis & D. Wade Hands (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Recent Economic Methodology, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Cavaliere, Giuseppe & Rahbek, Anders & Taylor, A.M. Robert, 2010. "Testing for co-integration in vector autoregressions with non-stationary volatility," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 158(1), pages 7-24, September.
    3. Johansen, Søren & Juselius, Katarina, 2014. "An asymptotic invariance property of the common trends under linear transformations of the data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 178(P2), pages 310-315.
    4. Cavaliere, Giuseppe & Rahbek, Anders & Taylor, A.M. Robert, 2010. "Cointegration Rank Testing Under Conditional Heteroskedasticity," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(6), pages 1719-1760, December.
    5. Katarina Juselius, 2009. "Time to reject the privileging of economic theory over empirical evidence? A Reply to Lawson (2009)," Discussion Papers 09-16, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    6. Søren Johansen & Katarina Juselius, 2010. "An Invariance Property of the Common Trends under Linear Transformations of the Data," Discussion Papers 10-30, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    7. Reade, J. James & Volz, Ulrich, 2011. "Leader of the pack? German monetary dominance in Europe prior to EMU," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(1-2), pages 239-250, January.
    8. Jennifer Castle & Takamitsu Kurita, 2022. "Structural relationships between cryptocurrency prices and monetary policy indicators," Economics Series Working Papers 972, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    9. Gomez-Biscarri, Javier & Hualde, Javier, 2015. "Regression-based analysis of cointegration systems," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 186(1), pages 32-50.
    10. David H. Bernstein & Bent Nielsen, 2019. "Asymptotic Theory for Cointegration Analysis When the Cointegration Rank Is Deficient," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, January.
    11. Søren Johansen, 2012. "The Analysis of Nonstationary Time Series Using Regression, Correlation and Cointegration," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 6(2), June.
    12. Rudra Sensarma & Indranil Bhattacharyya, 2016. "Measuring monetary policy and its impact on the bond market of an emerging economy," Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 109-130, July.
    13. Wilms, Ines & Croux, Christophe, 2016. "Forecasting using sparse cointegration," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 1256-1267.
    14. Kevin Hoover & Katarina Juselius, 2012. "Experiments, Passive Observation and Scenario Analysis: Trygve Haavelmo and the Cointegrated Vector Autoregression," Discussion Papers 12-16, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    15. Sensarma, Rudra & Bhattacharyya, Indranil, 2016. "The impact of monetary policy on corporate bonds in India," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 587-602.
    16. Cavaliere, Giuseppe & Rahbek, Anders & Taylor, Robert, 2010. "Determination of the Number of Common Stochastic Trends Under Conditional Heteroskedasticity/Determinación del número de tendencias estocásticas comunes bajo heteroscedasticidad condicional," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 28, pages 519-552, Diciembre.
    17. Mirkov, Nikola & Sutter, Barbara, 2012. "Central Bank Reserves and the Yield Curve at the ZLB," Working Papers on Finance 1208, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance.
    18. Jian Luo & Xiaoxia Ye & May Hu, 2016. "Counter-Credit-Risk Yield Spreads: A Puzzle in China's Corporate Bond Market," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 16(2), pages 203-241, June.
    19. Osmani Teixeira De Carvalho Guillen & José Valentim Machado Vicente, 2011. "Characterizing The Brazilian Termstructure Of Interest Rates In A Cointegrated Var Model," Anais do XXXVIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 38th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 041, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    20. Giuseppe Cavaliere & Anders Rahbek & A. M. Robert Taylor, 2009. "Co-integration rank tests under conditional heteroskedasticity," Discussion Papers 09/02, University of Nottingham, Granger Centre for Time Series Econometrics.
    21. Rezitis, A.N. & Ahammad, S.M., 2015. "Investigating Agricultural Production Relations across Bangladesh, India and Pakistan Using Vector Error Correction and Markov-Switching Models," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 28(1).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Yield curve; term structure of interest rates; expectations hypothesis; cointegration; common trends;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy

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