Journal article

Authors list: Tillmann, P

Publication year: 2020

Pages: 803-833

Journal: Journal of Money, Credit and Banking

Volume number: 52

Issue number: 4

Open access status: Green

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12657

Publisher: Wiley

Abstract: 

This paper studies the nonlinear response of the term structure of interest rates to monetary policy shocks and presents a new stylized fact. We show that uncertainty about monetary policy changes the way the term structure responds to monetary policy. A policy tightening leads to a significantly smaller increase in long-term bond yields if policy uncertainty is high at the time of the shock. We also look at the decomposition of bond yields into expectations about future policy and the term premium. The weaker response of yields is driven by the fall in term premia, which fall more strongly if uncertainty about policy is high. Conditional on a monetary policy shock, higher uncertainty about monetary policy tends to make securities with longer maturities relatively more attractive to investors. As a consequence, investors demand even lower term premia. These findings are robust to the measurement of monetary policy uncertainty, the definition of the monetary policy shock, and to changing the model specification.

Harvard Citation style: Tillmann, P. (2020) Monetary policy uncertainty and the response of the yield curve to policy shocks, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 52(4), pp. 803-833. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12657

APA Citation style: Tillmann, P. (2020). Monetary policy uncertainty and the response of the yield curve to policy shocks. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. 52(4), 803-833. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12657