03-046

CORPORATE BOND PRICING AND DIFFERENT SOURCES OF ASSET RETURN VOLATILITY

George Chacko, Peter Hecht, and Jens Hilscher

This paper presents a pricing model for defaultable bonds. Default is defined by a cash flow, not value, covenant. The cash flow (total distributions) yield is stochastic. We find that different sources of volatility, cash flow versus discount rate news, affect prices asymmetrically. Controlling for total asset return volatility, cash flow volatility is still important for bond pricing.

FIN
25 pages

| Back to 2002-2003 Working Papers | Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College