The Shape of the Term Structure of Credit Spreads : An Empirical Investigation

In this empirical paper we investigate the role of interest rate, market and idiosyncratic equity variables in explaining the entire shape of the term structure of credit spreads. Recent empirical literature has highlighted the importance of these components as determinants of the credit spread levels. By analyzing portfolios of straight bonds for both the industrial and financial sectors across investment grade credit ratings, we find that these factors impact credit spread levels at various maturities in a significantly different way. Therefore we conclude that these variables represent important determinants not only of the level, but also of the slope and curvature of credit spread term structures. A closer inspection of the credit spread slope also reveals that it contains important information about future credit spreads, and provides useful insights into the theoretical predictions of the Merton (1974) model