The Term Structure of Real Rates and Expected Inflation
64 Pages Posted: 16 Jul 2003
There are 3 versions of this paper
The Term Structure of Real Rates and Expected Inflation
The Term Structure of Real Rates and Expected Inflation
The Term Structure of Real Rates and Expected Inflation
Date Written: March 15, 2004
Abstract
Changes in nominal interest rates must be due to either movements in real interest rates or expected inflation, or both. We develop a term structure model with regime switches, time-varying prices of risk and inflation to identify these components of the nominal yield curve. We find that the unconditional real rate curve is fairly flat at 1.44%, but slightly humped. In one regime, the real term structure is steeply downward sloping. Real rates (nominal rates) are pro-cyclical (counter-cyclical) and inflation is negatively correlated with real rates. An inflation risk premium that increases with the horizon fully accounts for the generally upward sloping nominal term structure. We find that expected inflation drives about 80% of the variation of nominal yields at both short and long maturities, but during normal times, all of the variation of nominal term spreads is due to expected inflation and inflation risk.
Keywords: regime-switching term structure model, inflation risk premium, business cycles
JEL Classification: C50, E31, E32, E43, E44, G12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Specification Analysis of Affine Term Structure Models
By Qiang Dai and Kenneth J. Singleton
-
Specification Analysis of Affine Term Structure Models
By Qiang Dai and Kenneth J. Singleton
-
By Andrew Ang and Monika Piazzesi
-
By Andrew Ang and Monika Piazzesi
-
By John H. Cochrane and Monika Piazzesi
-
Expectation Puzzles, Time-Varying Risk Premia, and Dynamic Models of the Term Structure
By Qiang Dai and Kenneth J. Singleton
-
Expectation Puzzles, Time-Varying Risk Premia, and Dynamic Models of the Term Structure
By Qiang Dai and Kenneth J. Singleton
-
Expectation Puzzles, Time-Varying Risk Premia, and Dynamic Models of the Term Structure
By Qiang Dai and Kenneth J. Singleton
-
Expectation Puzzles, Time-Varying Risk Premia, and Dynamic Models of the Term Structure
By Qiang Dai and Kenneth J. Singleton