Conditional Betas

49 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2004 Last revised: 16 Dec 2022

See all articles by Tano Santos

Tano Santos

Columbia Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Pietro Veronesi

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 2004

Abstract

Empirical evidence shows that conditional market betas vary substantially over time. Yet, little is known about the source of this variation, either theoretically or empirically. Within a general equilibrium model with multiple assets and a time varying aggregate equity premium, we show that conditional betas depend on (a) the level of the aggregate premium itself; (b) the level of the firm's expected dividend growth; and (c) the firm's fundamental risk, that is, the one pertaining to the covariation of the firm's cash-flows with the aggregate economy. Especially when fundamental risk (c) is strong, the model predicts that market betas should display a large time variation, that their cross-sectional dispersion should be negatively related to the aggregate premium, and that investments in physical capital should be positively related to changes in betas. These predictions find considerable support in the data.

Suggested Citation

Santos, Tano and Veronesi, Pietro, Conditional Betas (April 2004). NBER Working Paper No. w10413, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=528994

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Pietro Veronesi

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