Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/98304 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
1999
Series/Report no.: 
Center Discussion Paper No. 800
Publisher: 
Yale University, Economic Growth Center, New Haven, CT
Abstract: 
We argue a source of time-varying premium (TVTP) in Japanese government bond market, and show that it is interest rate smoothing that causes empirical failures of expectation theory of term structure of interest rates. We estimate a regime switching ARCH model where an interest rate smoothing regime can be identified. Based on a model of time-inconsistency by Missale and Blanchard (1994), we further focus on a role of debt maturity in TVTP, which is an alternative to an ARCH process. Our robust empirical evidences support the expectation theory in Japanese government bond market. Moreover, in comparison with the ARCH process, debt maturity turns out to be a reliable proxy for the TVTP. This shows a possibility of a debt management policy in Japan: fiscal authority takes advantage of the debt maturity for price stability which is a target of monetary policy. It sharply contrasts with an evidence for ineffectiveness of the U.S. debt management policy by Wallace and Warner (1996).
Subjects: 
Time-Varying Term Premium
Interest Rate Smoothing
Regime Switching ARCH Model
Debt Maturity
Reputation Equilibrium
JEL: 
E42
E43
E52
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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