Is there a Distress Risk Anomaly? Pricing of Systematic Default Risk in the Cross Section of Equity Returns

Review of Finance, Volume 22, Issue 2, March 2018, Pages 633–660

52 Pages Posted: 19 Nov 2009 Last revised: 21 Nov 2019

See all articles by Deniz Anginer

Deniz Anginer

Simon Fraser University (SFU)

Çelim Yıldızhan

Koç University

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 8, 2017

Abstract

The standard measures of distress risk ignore the fact that firm defaults are correlated and that some defaults are more likely to occur in bad times. We use risk premium computed from corporate credit spreads to measure a firm’s exposure to systematic variation in default risk. Unlike previously used measures, the credit risk premium explicitly accounts for the non-diversifiable component of distress risk. In contrast to prior findings in the literature, we find that stocks with higher systematic default risk exposures, have higher expected equity returns which are largely explained by the Fama-French risk factors. We confirm the robustness of these results by using an alternative systematic default risk factor for firms that do not have bonds outstanding.

Keywords: Default risk, systematic default risk, credit risk, distress risk anomaly, bankruptcy, credit spread, asset-pricing anomalies, pricing of default risk, corporate bonds

JEL Classification: G11, G12, G13, G14, G33

Suggested Citation

Anginer, Deniz and Yıldızhan, Çelim, Is there a Distress Risk Anomaly? Pricing of Systematic Default Risk in the Cross Section of Equity Returns (August 8, 2017). Review of Finance, Volume 22, Issue 2, March 2018, Pages 633–660, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1344745 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1344745

Deniz Anginer

Simon Fraser University (SFU) ( email )

8888 University Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6
Canada

Çelim Yıldızhan (Contact Author)

Koç University ( email )

College of Administrative Sciences and Economics
Rumeli Feneri Yolu, Sariyer
Istanbul, 34450
Turkey

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
1,543
Abstract Views
7,958
Rank
15,059
PlumX Metrics