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Credit risk-free sovereign bonds under Solvency II: a cointegration analysis with consistently estimated structural breaks

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  • Alexander Ludwig

Abstract

European insurance and reinsurance undertakings are facing the advent of a new regulatory framework. In the current proposal for its technical specifications under the pillar 1 standard formula, sovereign debt of European Union (EU) member states is treated as risk-free. This article examines the validity of this assumption for 26 EU member states. Taking into account the possibility of multiple structural breaks, we find evidence for the convergence of government bond yields of several countries with the yields of a risk-free asset. For the majority of countries, however, there is no such evidence. A detailed discussion of regime shifts in relation to European bond market integration is provided. Our findings have important implications for insurance companies, bond investors and regulators alike.

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  • Alexander Ludwig, 2014. "Credit risk-free sovereign bonds under Solvency II: a cointegration analysis with consistently estimated structural breaks," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(12), pages 811-823, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apfiec:v:24:y:2014:i:12:p:811-823
    DOI: 10.1080/09603107.2014.909573
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    2. Maria E. de Boyrie & Ivelina Pavlova, 2020. "Analysing the link between environmental performance and sovereign credit risk," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(54), pages 5949-5966, November.
    3. Badarau, Cristina & Huart, Florence & Sangaré, Ibrahima, 2021. "Macroeconomic and policy implications of eurobonds," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Wegener, Christoph & Kruse, Robinson & Basse, Tobias, 2019. "The walking debt crisis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 382-402.
    5. Basse, Tobias, 2020. "Solvency II and sovereign credit risk: Additional empirical evidence and some thoughts about implications for regulators and lawmakers," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Robinson Kruse & Christoph Wegener, 2019. "Explosive behaviour and long memory with an application to European bond yield spreads," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 66(1), pages 139-153, February.
    7. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles, 2020. "Economic volatility and sovereign yields’ determinants: a time-varying approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 427-451, February.
    8. Tholl, Johannes & Schwarzbach, Christoph & Pittalis, Sandro & von Mettenheim, Hans-Jörg, 2020. "Bank funding and the recent political development in Italy: What about redenomination risk?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. van Riet, Ad, 2018. "Financial repression and high public debt in Europe," Other publications TiSEM 3391dd73-357a-4071-825c-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

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