The Value Spread

41 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2001 Last revised: 9 Jan 2022

See all articles by Randolph B. Cohen

Randolph B. Cohen

Harvard Business School - Finance Unit

Christopher Polk

London School of Economics

Tuomo Vuolteenaho

Arrowstreet Capital, LP; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 2001

Abstract

We decompose the cross-sectional variance of firms' book-to-market ratios using both a long U.S. panel and a shorter international panel. In contrast to typical aggregate time-series results, transitory cross-sectional variation in expected 15-year stock returns causes only a relatively small fraction (20%) of the total cross-sectional variance. The remaining dispersion can be explained by expected 15-year profitability and persistence of valuation levels. Furthermore, this fraction appears stable across time and across types of stocks. We also show that the expected return on value-minus-growth strategies is atypically high at times when the value spread (the difference between the book-to-market ratio of a typical value stock and a typical growth stock) is wide.

Suggested Citation

Cohen, Randolph B. and Polk, Christopher and Vuolteenaho, Tuomo, The Value Spread (April 2001). NBER Working Paper No. w8242, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=267426

Randolph B. Cohen (Contact Author)

Harvard Business School - Finance Unit ( email )

Boston, MA 02163
United States
617-495-6674 (Phone)
617-496-6592 (Fax)

Christopher Polk

London School of Economics ( email )

United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/polk/

Tuomo Vuolteenaho

Arrowstreet Capital, LP ( email )

44 Brattle St., 5th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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

Paper statistics

Downloads
322
Abstract Views
6,798
Rank
171,698
PlumX Metrics