← Search

Heterogeneous Expectations and Bond Markets

Wei Xiong1; Hongjun Yan2

1 Princeton University · 2 Yale University

Review of Financial Studies 2010 open access

This paper presents a dynamic equilibrium model of bond markets in which two groups of agents hold heterogeneous expectations about future economic conditions. The heterogeneous expectations cause agents to take on speculative positions against each other and therefore generate endogenous relative wealth fluctuation. The relative wealth fluctuation amplifies asset price volatility and contributes to the time variation in bond premia. Our model shows that a modest amount of heterogeneous expectations can help explain several puzzling phenomena, including the “excessive volatility” of bond yields, the failure of the expectations hypothesis, and the ability of a tent-shaped linear combination of forward rates to predict bond returns.

DOI
10.1093/rfs/hhp091
Volume
23 (4)
Pages
1433-1466
Language
en
Export
BibTeX
Sources
crossref openalex