Market Risk Premium Used in 2010 by Analysts and Companies: A Survey with 2,400 Answers

Abstract

The average MRP used by analysts in the USA (5.1%) was similar to the one used by their colleagues in Europe (5.0%). But the average MRP used by companies in the USA (5.3%) was smaller than the one used by companies in Europe (5.7%), and UK (5.6%).

The dispersion of the MRP used was high, but lower than the one of the professors: the average range of MRP used by analysts (companies) for the same country was 5.7% (4.1%) and the average standard deviation was 1.7% (1.2%). These statistics were 7.4% and 2.4% for the professors.

The paper also shows the MRP used in more than 20 countries and the MRP used in 2009.

The paper also contains the references that analysts and companies use to justify their MRP, and comments from 89 respondents that illustrate the various interpretations of what is the required MRP.

Keywords: market risk premium, required equity premium, expected equity premium, historical equity premium

JEL Classification: G12, G31, M21