Treasury yields and corporate bond yield spreads: an empirical analysis

Greg Duffee

No 96-20, Finance and Economics Discussion Series from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)

Abstract: This paper empirically examines the relation between the Treasury term structure and spreads of investment grade corporate bond yields over Treasuries. I find that noncallable bond yield spreads fall when the level of the Treasury term structure rises. The extent of this decline depends on the initial credit quality of the bond; the decline is small for Aaa-rated bonds and large for Baa-rated bonds. The role of the business cycle in generating this pattern is explored, as is the link between yield spreads and default risk. I also argue that yield spreads based on commonly-used bond yield indexes are contaminated in two important ways. The first is that they are ``refreshed'' indexes, which hold credit ratings constant over time; the second is that they usually are constructed with both callable and noncallable bonds. The impact of both of these problems is examined.

Keywords: Bonds; Government securities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Treasury Yields and Corporate Bond Yield Spreads: An Empirical Analysis (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedgfe:96-20

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