There is a Risk-Return Tradeoff after All

55 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2004 Last revised: 29 Oct 2022

See all articles by Pedro Santa-Clara

Pedro Santa-Clara

Nova School of Business and Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Eric Ghysels

University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School; University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Department of Economics

Rossen I. Valkanov

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Rady School of Management

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 2004

Abstract

This paper studies the ICAPM intertemporal relation between the conditional mean and the conditional variance of the aggregate stock market return. We introduce a new estimator that forecasts monthly variance with past daily squared returns -- the Mixed Data Sampling (or MIDAS) approach. Using MIDAS, we find that there is a significantly positive relation between risk and return in the stock market. This finding is robust in subsamples, to asymmetric specifications of the variance process, and to controlling for variables associated with the business cycle. We compare the MIDAS results with tests of the ICAPM based on alternative conditional variance specifications and explain the conflicting results in the literature. Finally, we offer new insights about the dynamics of conditional variance.

Suggested Citation

Santa-Clara, Pedro and Ghysels, Eric and Valkanov, Rossen, There is a Risk-Return Tradeoff after All (November 2004). NBER Working Paper No. w10913, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=622627

Pedro Santa-Clara (Contact Author)

Nova School of Business and Economics ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
Rua da Holanda, 1
Carcavelos, 2775-405
Portugal

HOME PAGE: http://docentes.fe.unl.pt/~psc/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

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Eric Ghysels

University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School ( email )

Kenan-Flagler Business School
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3490
United States

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Department of Economics ( email )

Gardner Hall, CB 3305
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
United States
919-966-5325 (Phone)
919-966-4986 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://https://eghysels.web.unc.edu/

Rossen Valkanov

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Rady School of Management ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive
Rady School of Management
La Jolla, CA 92093
United States
858-534-0898 (Phone)

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