We study the use of stochastic discount factor (SDF) models in evaluating the investment performance of portfolio managers. By constructing artificial mutual funds with known levels of investment ability, we evaluate a large set of SDF models. We find that the measures of performance are not...

Introduction to empirical asset pricing -- Stochastic discount factors and yen -- State pricing and m-talk -- Maximization and the m-talk euler equations -- Expected risk premiums and alphas -- So many models, so little time (taxonomy) -- Applications of m-talk -- The three paradigms of...