Towards a Common European Monetary Union Risk Free Rate

32 Pages Posted: 14 Mar 2010 Last revised: 23 Feb 2012

See all articles by Sergio Mayordomo

Sergio Mayordomo

Banco de España

Juan Ignacio Peña

Charles III University of Madrid - Department of Business Administration

Eduardo S. Schwartz

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Finance Area; Simon Fraser University (SFU); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: March 12, 2010

Abstract

We present a tentative estimate of a common risk free rate for the European Monetary Union countries from January 2004 to December 2010 using variables motivated by a theoretical portfolio selection model. In a first stage, we analyze the determinants of EMU sovereign yield spreads and find significant effects of the credit quality, macro, correlation, liquidity and interaction variables. Then, on the basis of the yield spreads’ determinants, we estimate the common risk free rate and show that this rate would imply, in most cases, average savings in borrowing costs for all the countries involved although under some extreme market circumstances, some countries may suffer increased borrowing costs.

Keywords: Euro government bonds, Credit quality, Liquidity, Macro factors

JEL Classification: F33, G12, H63

Suggested Citation

Mayordomo, Sergio and Peña, Juan Ignacio and Schwartz, Eduardo S. and Schwartz, Eduardo S., Towards a Common European Monetary Union Risk Free Rate (March 12, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1569675 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1569675

Sergio Mayordomo (Contact Author)

Banco de España ( email )

Alcala 50
Madrid 28014
Spain

Juan Ignacio Peña

Charles III University of Madrid - Department of Business Administration ( email )

Calle Madrid 126
Getafe, Madrid, Madrid 28903
Spain
34 91 624 9625 (Phone)
34 91 624 9608 (Fax)

Eduardo S. Schwartz

Simon Fraser University (SFU) ( email )

8888 University Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6
Canada

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Finance Area ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States
310-825-1953 (Phone)
310-206-5455 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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