Using an Alternative Estimation Method to Perform Comprehensive Empirical Tests: An Application to Interest Rate Risk-Management

Using a sample of 241 U.S. bank holding companies, we test all relevant rationales for corporate risk-management activities related to interest rate risk. Three main results emerge: (1) measurement error and the possibility of multiple influences on the model's proxy variables indicate that the confirmatory factor analysis method can provide a more accurate and comprehensive test of interest rate risk-management rationales than conventional estimation techniques, (2) the corporate risk-management theories most consistently supported are those related to financial distress costs and firm size, and (3) an exogenous factor related to interest rate volatility negatively influences a firm's interest rate risk exposure.