Decomposing the Yield Curve
Manuscript, first big revision, March 14 2008. With Monika Piazzesi. We work out an affine term structure model that incorporates our bond risk premia from “Bond Risk Premia” in the AER. There are lots of interesting dynamics – level, slope and curvature forecast future bond risk premia, and we discover that market prices of risk are really simple. We use the model to decompose the yield curve – given a yield (forward) curve today, how much is expected future interest rates, and how much is risk premium? How does the yield or forward rate premium correspond to the term structure of expected return premia? Was the conundrum a conundrum? Slides from 2010 AFA meetings Data and Programs.