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Mind the Gap: Disentangling Credit and Liquidity in Risk Spreads

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  • Krista Schwarz

Abstract

Euro-area sovereign bond and interbank interest rate spreads spiked in the 2007–2009 Global Financial Crisis and the subsequent European Debt Crisis, substantially elevating financing costs. I use a model-free measure of market liquidity to precisely identify the relative contribution of credit versus liquidity to spreads in these episodes. In the Financial Crisis, liquidity is paramount, accounting for 36% of trough-to-peak widening, after controlling for credit. However, default risk becomes relatively more important to sovereign spreads in the Debt Crisis. Aggregate bond liquidity explains a substantial portion of interbank spreads throughout the sample.

Suggested Citation

  • Krista Schwarz, 2019. "Mind the Gap: Disentangling Credit and Liquidity in Risk Spreads," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 23(3), pages 557-597.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:23:y:2019:i:3:p:557-597.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Market liquidity; Interbank credit; Money markets; Interest rates; Financial crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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