A Kalman filter approach to characterizing the Canadian term structure of interest rates

This paper employs a Kalman filter approach to test the Expectations Hypothesis and characterize how term premia have changed over time for short-term Canadian interest rates. The Kalman filter approach is extended to account for changes in interest rate volatility, possible permanent changes in term premia, and overlapping forecast errors. The Expectations Hypothesis is strongly rejected with estimated term premia displaying significant time variation. There is some evidence of a positive relationship between term premia and interest rate volatility, although other macroeconomic and political factors are important, especially exchange rate volatility. Also, estimated term premia were actually negative during the late 1980s.