An Alternative Model of Expected Returns and its Implications for Return Predictability
68 Pages Posted: 25 May 2014 Last revised: 29 Oct 2016
Date Written: October 26, 2016
Abstract
Empirical studies have found that during bad times return predictability is higher. Thus, variation in discount rate news should be relatively higher as economic conditions worsen. We propose a parsimonious model for expected returns that captures the countercyclical dynamics of stock return predictability. The implications of the model are studied within a flexible Bayesian predictive system. In our empirical tests, the estimates from the proposed model of expected return present lower prediction errors than the historical mean, and than the predictive regression using the dividend yield. Furthermore, the persistence parameter of expected returns presents long-term dynamics similar to the autocorrelation of realized returns.
Keywords: return predictability, economic constraints, dividend-price ratio, Kalman filter, Bayesian analysis
JEL Classification: C58, G00, G17, C11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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