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Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 49 No. 5-6 2014

Detecting Regime Shifts in Credit Spreads

Olfa Maalaoui Chun1; Georges Dionne2; Pascal François2

1 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology · 2 HEC Montréal

Abstract

Using an innovative random regime shift detection methodology, we identify and confirm two distinct regime types in the dynamics of credit spreads: a level regime and a volatility regime. The level regime is long lived and shown to be linked to Federal Reserve policy and credit market conditions, whereas the volatility regime is short lived and, apart from recessionary periods, detected during major financial crises. Our methodology provides an independent way of supporting structural equilibrium models and points toward monetary and credit supply effects to account for the persistence of credit spreads and their predictive power over the business cycle.

DOI
10.1017/s0022109015000034
Volume
49
Issue
5-6
Pages
1339-1364
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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