predicts that a = 0 and b = 1. We are unable to reject the
hypothesis that a = 0 for both versions of the model. The value of b is significantly
greater than 1.0 at the 1% confidence level when the Treasury rate is used as the risk-free
rate and significantly less than 1.0 at the 1% confidence level when the swap is used as
the risk-free rate. This suggests that the benchmark risk-free rate used by CDS market
participants is between the Treasury rate and the swap rate.