The model derives risky corporate bond prices (or equivalently credit spreads) subject to credit default and migration risk, based on an extended version of the Jarrow, Lando and Turnbull model, under a risk-neutral framework, as a result of the simulation of a continuous time, time-homogeneous...

Insurance companies often follow highly correlated investment strategies. As major investors in corporate bonds, their investment commonalities subject investors to fire-sale risk when regulatory restrictions prompt widespread divestment of a bond following a rating downgrade. Reflective of...

We show that liquidity tail risk in credit default swap (CDS) spreads is time-varying and explains variation in CDS spreads. We capture the liquidity tail risk of a CDS contract written on a firm by estimating the tail dependence, i.e., the asymptotic probability of a joint surge in the bid-ask...

We introduce a new distance-to-default (DD) measure based on observable covariates, allowing us to bypass any model-based inference (e.g., Merton, 1974), that works well. It is based on the following result: The default event defined by endogenous credit-risk models, a sufficiently low asset...

In this paper we review the pricing and model calibration of Credit Default Swaps referring to both the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) CDS contract and credit model standardization guidelines. Furthermore we provide an Excel pricing workbook to supplement the materials...

Reduced-form models of default calibrated to expected default losses and comovements between default losses and an equity-based pricing kernel generate CDS spreads that tend to fall below historical values. In frictionless markets, resolving this credit spread puzzle requires credit-market...

This paper investigates the determinants of credit risk in insurance companies in the U.S. and Europe. Consistent with recent results for non-financial firms in the U.S., we find that equity volatility is a major determinant and predictor of CDS spreads for both U.S. and European insurers, even...

We measure credit risk premia---prices for bearing corporate default risk in excess of expected default losses---using Markit CDS and Moody's Analytics EDF data. We find dramatic variation over time in credit risk premia, with peaks in 2002, during the global financial crisis of 2008-09, and in...

Insurers are the largest institutional investors of corporate bonds. However, a standard theory of insurance markets, in which insurers maximize firm value subject to regulatory or risk constraints, predicts no allocation to corporate bonds. We resolve this puzzle in an equilibrium asset pricing...

Insurance companies often follow highly correlated investment strategies. As major investors in corporate bonds, their investment commonalities subject investors to fire-sale risk when regulatory restrictions prompt widespread divestment of a bond following a rating downgrade. Reflective of...