Resurrecting the (C)Capm: A Cross-Sectional Test When Risk Premia are Time-Varying

59 Pages Posted: 7 Oct 2006

See all articles by Martin Lettau

Martin Lettau

University of California - Haas School of Business; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Sydney C. Ludvigson

New York University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 1999

Abstract

This paper explores the ability of theoretically based asset pricing models such as the CAPM and the consumption CAPM-referred to jointly as the (C)CAPM - to explain the cross-section of average stock returns. Unlike many previous empirical tests of the (C)CAPM, we specify the pricing kernel as a conditional linear factor model, as would be expected if risk premia vary over time. Central to our approach is the use of a conditioning variable which proxies for fluctuations in the log consumption-aggregate wealth ratio and is likely to be important for summarizing conditional expectations of excess returns. We demonstrate that such conditional factor models are able to explain a substantial fraction of the cross-sectional variation in portfolio returns. These models perform much better than unconditional (C)CAPM specifications, and about as well as the three-factor Fama-French model on portfolios sorted by size and book-to-market ratios. This specification of the linear conditional consumption CAPM, using aggregate consumption data, is able to account for the difference in returns between low book-to-market and high book-to-market firms and exhibits little evidence of residual size or book-to-market effects.

JEL Classification: G10, E21

Suggested Citation

Lettau, Martin and Ludvigson, Sydney C., Resurrecting the (C)Capm: A Cross-Sectional Test When Risk Premia are Time-Varying (December 1999). FRB of New York Staff Report No. 93, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=935320 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.935320

Martin Lettau (Contact Author)

University of California - Haas School of Business ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/lettau/

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Sydney C. Ludvigson

New York University - Department of Economics ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.nyu.edu/user/ludvigsons/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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