The paper examines whether or not the convergence process of European economies towards Economic and Monetary Union has led to increased integration of European stock markets. We estimate a conditional asset pricing model, which allows for a time-varying degree of integration that measures the...

Discount rate variation is driven by a short run business cycle component and a longer run trend component. This leads to state variable hedging of these two components and ICAPM logic implies a three factor model for expected returns. The factors represent cash ow news, short term discount rate...

Firm level characteristics explain the cross section of investment returns of industry portfolios that include listed and unlisted firms. Moreover, common asset pricing models explain the cross-sectional variation of characteristic-based investment returns which include listed and unlisted...

The launch of the single currency in Europe in January 1999 was preceded by a period of regulatory harmonization, convergence in bond yields and inflation rates, and strict fiscal policy across the Eurozone countries. We examine whether the 1990s also were characterized by increased stock market...