How Sovereign is Sovereign Credit Risk?

43 Pages Posted: 19 Dec 2007 Last revised: 29 Oct 2022

See all articles by Francis A. Longstaff

Francis A. Longstaff

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

Jun Pan

Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) - Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR)

Lasse Heje Pedersen

AQR Capital Management, LLC; Copenhagen Business School - Department of Finance; New York University (NYU); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Kenneth J. Singleton

Stanford University - Graduate School of Business

Date Written: December 2007

Abstract

We study the nature of sovereign credit risk using an extensive sample of CDS spreads for 26 developed and emerging-market countries. Sovereign credit spreads are surprisingly highly correlated, with just three principal components accounting for more than 50 percent of their variation. Sovereign credit spreads are generally more related to the U.S. stock and high-yield bond markets, global risk premia, and capital flows than they are to their own local economic measures. We find that the excess returns from investing in sovereign credit are largely compensation for bearing global risk, and that there is little or no country-specific credit risk premium. A significant amount of the variation in sovereign credit returns can be forecast using U.S. equity, volatility, and bond market risk premia.

Suggested Citation

Longstaff, Francis A. and Pan, Jun and Pedersen, Lasse Heje and Singleton, Kenneth J., How Sovereign is Sovereign Credit Risk? (December 2007). NBER Working Paper No. w13658, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1073642

Francis A. Longstaff (Contact Author)

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

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States
310-825-2218 (Phone)
310-206-5455 (Fax)

Jun Pan

Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) - Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) ( email )

Shanghai Jiao Tong University
211 West Huaihai Road
Shanghai, 200030
China

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR)

1954 Huashan Road
Shanghai P.R.China, 200030
China

Lasse Heje Pedersen

AQR Capital Management, LLC ( email )

Greenwich, CT
United States

Copenhagen Business School - Department of Finance ( email )

Solbjerg Plads 3
Frederiksberg, DK-2000
Denmark

New York University (NYU) ( email )

Stern School of Business
44 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012-1126
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Kenneth J. Singleton

Stanford University - Graduate School of Business ( email )

Knight Management Center
655 Knight Way
Stanford, CA 94305-7298
United States
650-723-5753 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.stanford.edu/~kenneths

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