Book Description
This paper investigates the determinants of variations in the yield spreads between Japanese yen interest rate swaps and Japan government bonds for a period from 1997 to 2005. A smooth transition vector autoregressive (STVAR) model and generalized impulse response functions are used to analyze the impact of various economic shocks on swap spreads. The volatility based on a GARCH model of the government bond rate is identified as the transition variable that controls the smooth transition from high volatility regime to low volatility regime. The break point of the regime shift occurs around the end of the Japanese banking crisis. The impact of economic shocks on swap spreads varies across the maturity of swap spreads as well as regimes. Overall, swap spreads are more responsive to the economic shocks in the high volatility regime. Moreover, volatility shock has profound effects on shorter maturity spreads, while the term structure shock plays an important role in impacting longer maturity spreads. Our results also show noticeable differences between the non-linear and linear impulse response functions.