We construct an asset pricing model with explicit default to develop a risk-based source of the distress anomaly. We show that distress produces sharply countercyclical betas leading to biased estimates of risk premia and alphas. This effect is amplified when earnings growth is mean-reverting,...

A growing literature shows that credit indicators forecast aggregate real outcomes. While the literature has proposed various explanations, the economic mechanism behind these results remains an open question. In this paper, we show that a simple, frictionless, model explains empirical findings...

We show that the term structure of dividend risk premia and discount rates implied by equity strip yields are downward sloping in recessions and upward sloping in expansions, a finding which is statistically significant and robust across the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Our results are based on the...

We document a countercyclical sensitivity of the stock market to major macroeconomic news announcements. Stock prices react more to (either good or bad) announcement surprises when the economy is below its potential trend with the expectation of easing policy. Based on comprehensive regression...

Does macroeconomic uncertainty increase or decrease aggregate growth and asset prices? To address this question, we decompose aggregate uncertainty into ‘good' and ‘bad' volatility components, associated with positive and negative innovations to macroeconomic growth. We document that in line...