Fool the Markets? Creative Accounting, Fiscal Transparency and Sovereign Risk Premia
40 Pages Posted: 13 Jun 2006
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Fool the Markets? Creative Accounting, Fiscal Transparency and Sovereign Risk Premia
Fool the Markets? Creative Accounting, Fiscal Transparency and Sovereign Risk Premia
Date Written: May 2006
Abstract
We investigate the effects of official fiscal data and creative accounting signals on interest rate spreads between bond yields in the European Union. Our model predicts that risk premia contained in government bond spreads should increase in both the official fiscal position and the expected "creative" part of fiscal policy. The relative importance of these two signals depends on the transparency of the country. Greater transparency reduces risk premia. The empirical results confirm the hypotheses. Creative accounting increases the spread. The increase of the risk premium is stronger if financial markets are unsure about the true extent of creative accounting. Fiscal transparency reduces risk premia.
Keywords: risk premia, government bond yields, creative accounting, stock-flow adjustments, gimmickry, transparency
JEL Classification: G12, E43, E62, H6, F34
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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