We show that the pricing of idiosyncratic volatility (IV) is due to unaccounted systematic risk, which affects a large number of asset pricing anomalies. A single common IV component explains one third of variation in IV. Mispricing arises when sorting stocks by the part of IV predicted by...

The stylized fact that volatility is not priced in individual equity options does not withstand scrutiny. We show, first, that the average return of heavily traded deep out-of-the-money call options on stocks is -116 basis points per day. Second, Fama- MacBeth estimates of the volatility risk...

We successfully replicate the main results of Ang, Hodrick, Xing, and Zhang (2006): Aggregate-volatility risk and idiosyncratic volatility (IV) are each priced in the cross-section of stock returns from 1963 to 2000. We also examine the pricing of volatility outside the original time period and...