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  3. American Economic Review
  4. October 2013
  5. News Shocks and the Slope of the Term Structure of Interest Rates

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

News Shocks and the Slope of the Term Structure of Interest Rates

  • André Kurmann
  • Christopher Otrok
American Economic Review
vol. 103, no. 6, October 2013
(pp. 2612–32)
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Abstract

We adopt a statistical approach to identify the shocks that explain most of the fluctuations of the slope of the term structure of interest rates. We find that one shock can explain the majority of unpredictable movements in the slope. Impulse response functions lead us to interpret this shock as news about future total factor productivity (TFP). By showing that "slope shocks" are essentially "TFP news shocks" we provide a new explanation for the relationship between the slope and macroeconomic fundamentals. Our results also provide a new empirical benchmark for structural models at the intersection of macroeconomics and finance.

Citation

Kurmann, André, and Christopher Otrok. 2013. "News Shocks and the Slope of the Term Structure of Interest Rates." American Economic Review, 103 (6): 2612–32. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.6.2612

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • E23 Macroeconomics: Production
  • E43 Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
  • E52 Monetary Policy
  • G12 Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
  • G14 Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading