scholarly journals A Synthesis of Two Factor Estimation Methods

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 825-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Connor ◽  
Robert A. Korajczyk ◽  
Robert T. Uhlaner
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Point ◽  
Asset Pricing ◽  
Risk Premia ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Errors In Variables ◽  
Pricing Models ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Asset Pricing Models ◽  
The Common ◽  
Factor Estimation

AbstractTwo-pass cross-sectional regression (TPCSR) is frequently used in estimating factor risk premia. Recent papers argue that the common practice of grouping assets into portfolios to reduce the errors-in-variables (EIV) problem leads to loss of efficiency and masks potential deviations from asset pricing models. One solution that allows the use of individual assets while overcoming the EIV problem is iterated TPCSR (ITPCSR). ITPCSR converges to a fixed point regardless of the initial factors chosen. ITPCSR is intimately linked to the asymptotic principal components (APC) method of estimating factors since the ITPCSR estimates are the APC estimates, up to a rotation.

Using Stocks or Portfolios in Tests of Factor Models

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 709-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Ang ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
Krista Schwarz
Keyword(s):  
Asset Pricing ◽  
Risk Premia ◽  
Factor Models ◽  
Idiosyncratic Volatility ◽  
Standard Errors ◽  
Coefficient Estimates ◽  
Pricing Models ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Factor Loadings ◽  
Asset Pricing Models

We examine the efficiency of using individual stocks or portfolios as base assets to test asset pricing models using cross-sectional data. The literature has argued that creating portfolios reduces idiosyncratic volatility and allows more precise estimates of factor loadings, and consequently risk premia. We show analytically and empirically that smaller standard errors of portfolio beta estimates do not lead to smaller standard errors of cross-sectional coefficient estimates. Factor risk premia standard errors are determined by the cross-sectional distributions of factor loadings and residual risk. Portfolios destroy information by shrinking the dispersion of betas, leading to larger standard errors.

scholarly journals Relative Entropy and Minimum-Variance Pricing Kernel in Asset Pricing Model Evaluation

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 721
Author(s):  
Javier Rojo-Suárez ◽  
Ana Belén Alonso-Conde
Keyword(s):  
Asset Pricing ◽  
Relative Entropy ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Minimum Variance ◽  
Pricing Models ◽  
Pricing Kernel ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Testing Procedures ◽  
Asset Pricing Models ◽  
Leibler Divergence

Recent literature shows that many testing procedures used to evaluate asset pricing models result in spurious rejection probabilities. Model misspecification, the strong factor structure of test assets, or skewed test statistics largely explain this. In this paper we use the relative entropy of pricing kernels to provide an alternative framework for testing asset pricing models. Building on the fact that the law of one price guarantees the existence of a valid pricing kernel, we study the relationship between the mean-variance efficiency of a model’s factor-mimicking portfolio, as measured by the cross-sectional generalized least squares (GLS) R 2 statistic, and the relative entropy of the pricing kernel, as determined by the Kullback–Leibler divergence. In this regard, we suggest an entropy-based decomposition that accurately captures the divergence between the factor-mimicking portfolio and the minimum-variance pricing kernel resulting from the Hansen-Jagannathan bound. Our results show that, although GLS R 2 statistics and relative entropy are strongly correlated, the relative entropy approach allows us to explicitly decompose the explanatory power of the model into two components, namely, the relative entropy of the pricing kernel and that corresponding to its correlation with asset returns. This makes the relative entropy a versatile tool for designing robust tests in asset pricing.

The Bias in Two-Pass Regression Tests of Asset-Pricing Models in Presence of Idiosyncratic Errors with Cross-Sectional Dependence

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (02) ◽  
pp. 1950012
Author(s):  
Thomas Gramespacher ◽  
Armin Bänziger
Keyword(s):  
Asset Pricing ◽  
Risk Premium ◽  
Measurement Errors ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Pricing Models ◽  
Time Series Regression ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Asset Pricing Models ◽  
Slope Estimator ◽  
Regression Tests

In two-pass regression-tests of asset-pricing models, cross-sectional correlations in the errors of the first-pass time-series regression lead to correlated measurement errors in the betas used as explanatory variables in the second-pass cross-sectional regression. The slope estimator of the second-pass regression is an estimate for the factor risk-premium and its significance is decisive for the validity of the pricing model. While it is well known that the slope estimator is downward biased in presence of uncorrelated measurement errors, we show in this paper that the correlations seen in empirical return data substantially suppress this bias. For the case of a single-factor model, we calculate the bias of the OLS slope estimator in the presence of correlated measurement errors with a first-order Taylor-approximation in the size of the errors. We show that the bias increases with the size of the errors, but decreases the more the errors are correlated. We illustrate and validate our result using a simulation approach based on empirical data commonly used in asset-pricing tests.

scholarly journals Identifying outliers in asset pricing data with a new weighted forward search estimator

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (84) ◽  
pp. 458-472
Author(s):  
Alexandre Aronne ◽  
Luigi Grossi ◽  
Aureliano Angel Bressan
Keyword(s):  
Asset Pricing ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Forward Search ◽  
Pricing Models ◽  
Asset Pricing Models ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Three Factor

ABSTRACT The purpose of this work is to present the Weighted Forward Search (FSW) method for the detection of outliers in asset pricing data. This new estimator, which is based on an algorithm that downweights the most anomalous observations of the dataset, is tested using both simulated and empirical asset pricing data. The impact of outliers on the estimation of asset pricing models is assessed under different scenarios, and the results are evaluated with associated statistical tests based on this new approach. Our proposal generates an alternative procedure for robust estimation of portfolio betas, allowing for the comparison between concurrent asset pricing models. The algorithm, which is both efficient and robust to outliers, is used to provide robust estimates of the models’ parameters in a comparison with traditional econometric estimation methods usually used in the literature. In particular, the precision of the alphas is highly increased when the Forward Search (FS) method is used. We use Monte Carlo simulations, and also the well-known dataset of equity factor returns provided by Prof. Kenneth French, consisting of the 25 Fama-French portfolios on the United States of America equity market using single and three-factor models, on monthly and annual basis. Our results indicate that the marginal rejection of the Fama-French three-factor model is influenced by the presence of outliers in the portfolios, when using monthly returns. In annual data, the use of robust methods increases the rejection level of null alphas in the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Fama-French three-factor model, with more efficient estimates in the absence of outliers and consistent alphas when outliers are present.

Firm Characteristics, Cross-Sectional Regression Estimates, and Asset Pricing Tests

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Asset Pricing ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
Nonlinear Effects ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Pricing Models ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Portfolio Returns ◽  
Asset Pricing Models ◽  
Formidable Challenge ◽  
Expected Stock Returns

Abstract I test a number of well-known asset pricing models using regression-based managed portfolios that capture nonlinearity in the cross-sectional relation between firm characteristics and expected stock returns. Although the average portfolio returns point to substantial nonlinearity in the data, none of the asset pricing models successfully explain the estimated nonlinear effects. Indeed, the estimated expected returns produced by the models display almost no variation across portfolios. Because the tests soundly reject every model considered, it is apparent that nonlinearity in the relation between firm characteristics and expected stock returns poses a formidable challenge to asset pricing theory. (JEL G12, C58)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document