The yield spread as a predictor of economic activity in Mexico: the role of the term premium

This paper analyzes whether there exists a relationship between the slope of the yield curve and future economic activity in Mexico for the period 2004–2019. In particular, we evaluate whether such a relationship depends on the term premium. For this purpose, we estimate a threshold model in which the relationship between the yield spread and economic activity, measured as either output growth or the probability of a contraction, depends on whether the term premium is above or below a certain threshold. The main results indicate that the slope of the yield curve seems to anticipate the behavior of economic activity only when the term premium is above a threshold. Our results also suggest that the slope of the yield curve has predictive power over the probability of facing a contraction in the future only when the term premium is above a threshold.