Reconstructing the yield curve

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The constant maturity zero-coupon yield curve for the US Treasuries is one of the most studied datasets. We construct a new yield curve using a non-parametric kernel-smoothing method with a novel adaptive bandwidth specifically designed to fit the Treasury yields. Our curve is globally smooth while still capturing important local variation. Economically, we show that applying our data leads to different conclusions from using the leading alternative data of Gürkaynak et al. (2007) (GSW) when we repeat two popular studies of Cochrane and Piazzesi (2005) and Giglio and Kelly (2018). Statistically, we show our dataset preserves information in the raw data and has much smaller pricing errors than GSW. Our new yield curve is maintained and updated online, complemented by bandwidths that summarize information content in the raw data.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1395-1425
Number of pages31
JournalJournal of Financial Economics
Volume142
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Excess volatility
  • Non-parametric method
  • Return forecasting regressions
  • Term structure of interest rates
  • Yield curve

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Strategy and Management

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