J-liquidity measure: The term structure of the liquidity premium in Japan

Abstract

We interpret the yield spread between Japanese government-guaranteed bonds and government bonds as market liquidity, which we refer to as the J-liquidity measure. Our model-free approach not only provides the term structure of the liquidity premium, but also captures the impact of illiquidity events and the illiquidity condition of the Japanese fixed-income market. We empirically show that the long-term factor of the liquidity premium curve is driven by the volatility of the short-term rate. The liquidity measure is provided publicly for future applications.