Asymmetric Smooth Transition in Cds Spreads: Evidence From Latvia

Abstract

This paper investigates the predictability of CDS premiums and thus addresses weak form informational efficiency of CDS markets through examining the statistical properties of Latvian CDS spreads in-between 01:2006-08:2017 by concentrating on stationarity issues. The findings for the Augmented Dickey Fuller test fail to reject the presence of unit root indicating that the CDS market is weak form efficient while nonlinear tests of Kapatenios, Snell and Shin, and Sollis claim the opposite, demonstrating a smooth transition in general, and asymmetric smooth transition in particular. Additionally, the results of Perron and Zivot-Andrews tests identify no structural break as well for robustness. These results underline the necessity of accounting for nonlinearities in CDS premiums to grasp the predictability dynamics better.