Arbeitspapier

Forecasting the term structure of government bond yields

Despite powerful advances in yield curve modeling in the last twenty years, comparatively little attention has been paid to the key practical problem of forecasting the yield curve. In this paper we do so. We use neither the no-arbitrage approach, which focuses on accurately fitting the cross section of interest rates at any given time but neglects time-series dynamics, nor the equilibrium approach, which focuses on time-series dynamics (primarily those of the instantaneous rate) but pays comparatively little attention to fitting the entire cross section at any given time and has been shown to forecast poorly. Instead, we use variations on the Nelson-Siegel exponential components framework to model the entire yield curve, period-byperiod, as a three-dimensional parameter evolving dynamically. We show that the three timevarying parameters may be interpreted as factors corresponding to level, slope and curvature, and that they may be estimated with high efficiency. We propose and estimate autoregressive models for the factors, and we show that our models are consistent with a variety of stylized facts regarding the yield curve. We use our models to produce term-structure forecasts at both short and long horizons, with encouraging results. In particular, our forecasts appear much more accurate at long horizons than various standard benchmark forecasts.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: CFS Working Paper ; No. 2004/09

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Thema
Term structure
yield curve
factor model
Nelson-Siegel curve
Schatzpapier
Zinsstruktur
Kapitalertrag
Prognose
Theorie
USA

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Diebold, Francis X.
Li, Canlin
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Goethe University Frankfurt, Center for Financial Studies (CFS)
(wo)
Frankfurt a. M.
(wann)
2003

Handle
URN
urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-10611
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Diebold, Francis X.
  • Li, Canlin
  • Goethe University Frankfurt, Center for Financial Studies (CFS)

Entstanden

  • 2003

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