This article looks at the determinants of liquidity premium of the term structure of interest rates. Based upon a very simple model, we show that liquidity premium is not necessarily positive, as usually believed. This point is illustrated empirically with Chilean data for the sample period 1983-1999. Our estimation results show that liquidity premium is not only time-varying but that it also depends on the curvature of the term structure, expected inflation, expected depreciation of the nominal exchange rate, and on economic activity, contradicting the expectations hypothesis. <br> For our sample period, the liquidity premium is usually negative, and when positive it is very small. This implies that investors are willing to hold long-term assets even though their return is relatively lower. This appears to be a consequence of indexation, which reduces the risk of long-term bonds as their return is linked to past inflation. Alternatively, we believe that a negative liquidity premium may be explained by the preferred habitat hypothesis of interest rates. Indeed, data on the composition of the portfolios of Chilean insurance and re-insurance companies show that, due to immunization (matching of durations of assets and liabilities), about a 60 percent of total assets correspond with long-term bonds and mortgage securities. This investment strategy drives the prices of long-term financial instruments up, and their rates down.
