Predicting real growth and the probability of recession in the Euro area using the yield spread

Although the spread has been established as a leading indicator of economic activity, recent studies in US and European Union (EU) countries have documented, theoretically and empirically, that the term spread-output growth relationship may not be stable over time and it may be subjected to nonlinearities. Using aggregate data for the Euro area over the period 1970:1-2000:4, we applied linear regression as well as nonlinear models to examine the predictive accuracy of the term spread-output growth relationship. Our results confirm the ability of the yield curve as a leading indicator. Moreover, significant nonlinearity with respect to time and past annual growth is detected, outperforming the linear model in out-of-sample forecasts of 1-year-ahead annual growth. Furthermore, probit models that use the EMU and US yield spreads are successful in predicting EMU recessions.