Abstract

This paper investigates the main determinants of euro denominated corporate bond yields, then analyses the “country effect” by focusing on economic reasons for the strong link between country and corporate yields. It also examines the potential impact of monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) on corporate bond yields on the days of Governing Council meetings.

A sample of 1,762 corporate euro-country bonds is analyzed for the period May 2005 – January 2012 using OLS panel data. The economic reason for the strong link between countries and corporate yields is investigated up to 2017. We find that idiosyncratic liquidity and risk have a crucial impact on bond yields, but yields are also strongly influenced by the risk of the corresponding sovereign bonds. Finally, we show that unexpectedness component of ECB policy also exerts a strong short-term effect.

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